Chief Officer’s blog by Kimberley Guthrie
August is a hectic month for the team at Scotland’s Towns Partnership, culminating in Scotland Loves Local Week, which is a key date in our calendar for shining a spotlight on our local places, celebrating the fantastic work that takes place to build stronger, more resilient communities.
Orkney has been a powerful advocate of the Scotland Loves Local message, and I was delighted to visit with my colleague Mhairi Donaghy to find out more about the fantastic work taking place across the island.
Placemaking with localism at it’s heart
Town Centre Living is a key pillar of our work here at STP, and I was delighted to see the town centre living agenda being put into practice in Kirkwall by local businessman Neil Stevenson.
Repurposing empty buildings is a brilliant way of breathing life back into town centres and the recent development of 15 one-bedroom flats in Kirkwall in fallow space and above shops is a fantastic example of innovative thinking in Orkney,
Town centre living has wide reaching economic and societal benefits for our places and is a catalyst for positive change. More people living locally means greater footfall, which is a welcome boost for local businesses and services. Consequently, it can build more resilient, sustainable communities with better infrastructure, greater community cohesion and less social isolation.
Collaboration between BID and community to think local first
This beautiful place is unsurprisingly a hotspot for visitors, and tourism is a significant driver of Orkney’s economy. However, the seasonal nature of tourism means that organisations like Kirkwall BID are constantly thinking about how to better support the local economy and community during the winter months.
One example is the upcoming Bridge Street development in Kirkwall, which is set to be a transformative project, seamlessly blending leisure, hospitality, and social connectivity. This initiative promises to revitalise the area, making it a hub of activity that benefits both residents and
visitors year-round.
Orkney is also home to a remarkable array of local businesses – from whisky and gin to handmade fudge and exquisite jewellery by artisans like Sheila Fleet, Ortak, and Alison Moore – there’s so much to celebrate and promote. There is a huge opportunity for the BID to explore how to commercialise trails that highlight Orkney’s rich heritage, culture and local offerings, providing immersive experiences for visitors and locals alike.
The Kirkwall Gift Card has been a real game-changer for locking in spend locally, and encouraging more employers and businesses to adopt this island currency, especially during the winter months, can unlock greater economic potential and strengthen community ties. By engaging with employers and communities alike, this is a great way for all to support local businesses and keep them thriving.
Another innovative economic driver is the local development trust-organsied Stromness Shopping Week, which celebrates and showcases the resilience of Orkney’s local business offering, providing a template for similar initiatives throughout the year.
Collaboration key to unlocking success for local communities
If you read my last blog, you will know that I am a big advocate of partnership working, and it was evident that Orkney has a strong focus on partnership and holistic placemaking, with an emphasis on multi-sector collaboration. Heriot-Watt University’s presence, with its campus and innovation centre, plays a significant role in this vision. Additionally, there are discussions around the future of the church in Stromness, exploring potential uses for the building. The community centre also has some exciting plans to extend its use and increase dwell time, including the addition of a café that will further benefit residents.
Further opportunities for cross-functional collaboration are emerging, involving development trusts, the BID, the council, and the Towns Board. In Kirkwall, a
prime example of successful place-making is the Old Library, which has been repurposed into an outstanding co-working space. This initiative highlights the potential of bringing buildings back into use with new and meaningful purposes, offering a model that can inspire similar projects.
I left Orkney feeling truly inspired by the innovative approach taken to localism, and having seen in action how thinking local first can help create stronger, sustainable and more resilient places.
I look forward to my next visit to Orkney as a tourist.
Kimberley Guthrie
Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership
