The national competition for Scotland’s Most Beautiful High Street has been launched by two of Scotland’s most well known place and environmental organisations.
Scotland’s Towns Partnership, the national body for town centres in Scotland, and Keep Scotland Beautiful, the environmental charity which campaigns to keep Scotland green, clean and sustainable, jointly launched the competition which takes place over the summer, with the deadline for entries on Monday 30th September.
Entries will be judged on factors including horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility, and community participation. Entries will be shortlisted by STP and KSB, and the winner chosen by a public vote and announced during Scotland’s Towns Week in November.
The 2018 winner was the Aberdeenshire town of Turriff. Turriff’s entry, submitted by the Turriff Business Association, highlighted the town’s numerous heritage sites, horticultural beauty, and community initiatives, including the emblematic ‘Turra Coo’ sculpture.
Towns can enter by way of a short written statement submitted by email to Ewan Robertson ewan@scotlandstowns.org.
Marj Chalmers, Chair of 2018 winners Turriff Business Association, encouraged towns to get involved, stating:
“Entering and winning the title of Scotland’s Most Beautiful High Street last year was a great honour for us. Winning overall was fantastic and a great boost for Turriff. I would encourage anybody to take part as it greatly benefited us.
“We had lots of press coverage and also television news coverage with STV news visiting Turriff and doing a report. The footfall was increased greatly and it certainly put Turriff on the map with the businesses in Turriff benefiting from the extra trade.
“The award that I and my colleague Rose Logan collected from the Parliament building in Edinburgh was proudly displayed around Turriff in members premises a week at a time and finally now has pride of place in our Library. It was fantastic we won and was a big thank you to all the groups involved that keep Turriff spotless and beautiful with hanging baskets, litter collection etc”.
Phil Prentice, Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership, said:
“Our high streets and town centres are the beating hearts of communities and local economies, and each has its unique identity and experience to offer for both residents and visitors. We want to celebrate the contribution of our high streets and recognise the efforts made to make these spaces clean, attractive, accessible, vibrant and inclusive for all to enjoy.
“Although some of our high streets have faced challenges in light of the growth of online retail, the spirit of reinvention is very much alive. Some towns have totally reinvented – Wigtown as the Book Town, West Kilbride as the Craft Town, Kirkcudbright as the Art Town, Oban for Seafood, Dunoon and Fort William as outdoor leisure specialists. Towns like Inverurie, Prestwick, Gourock and Kilmalcolm are all beginning to see a strong rise in the growth of independent and high quality local niche retail.”
Derek Robertson, Chief Executive at at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said:
“We know that good quality environments are good for business and good for local people. It’s inspiring to see so many communities and businesses across Scotland working together to improve the places they live and work in.
“For over half a decade we have helped communities and local authorities improve the places they care for, through our Beautiful Scotland competition. This opportunity to recognise the most beautiful high street in the country will be a great celebration of those who are working together to ensure we can
ENDS
Notes
- For media inquiries, contact Gareth Brown, gareth@messagematters.co.uk / 07907 520 571
- To enter the Scotland’s Most Beautiful High Street competition, send a short description (300 words max) of why your High Street deserves the award by email to ewan@scotlandstowns.org. The document can be either Word or PDF format. Please include one or two high resolution images of your High Street.
- The deadline for entries is 5pm on Monday 30 September 2019. Entries will be shortlisted and the winner will then be chosen by an online public vote hosted at www.scotlandstowns.org.
- Read more at: https://www.scotlandstowns.org/scotlands_most_beautiful_high_street
