Unveiled: £500,000 Community Regeneration Project Transforms Green Spaces

23 June 2016

Aberdeen City Council  held the  official opening of the completed Seaton Backies project - a £500,000 programme to rejuvenate neglected green spaces for family.

And council leader Councillor Jenny Laing hailed the project as a fantastic example of how the Council and the community can work together to create real change in their areas.

After five years, the community-driven project has delivered innovative play areas within an urban setting in what were once under-used, run down and unattractive spaces.

The project began with a group of mums who initiated a community drive to improve the environment in which their children play. Aberdeen City Council got behind the project and committed £396,000 for play equipment, landscaping works and improvement works.

Officers worked directly with the community to deliver the safe, clean and fun spaces parents desired for their children.

The opening of the play areas was today marked with a community fun day including children’s treasure hunt and ribbon cutting ceremony.

Councillor Laing said: “This work that was unveiled is a real example of community empowerment.

“This project started by a group of young mums five years ago has led to huge impactful change for future generations of children growing up in this area and they are to be commended for their commitment.

“We are also committed to delivering change in the community which has been developed and shaped by the people who live there and The Seaton Backies Project is a shining example of this.

“Everyone right from the smallest primary school pupil to a grandparent played a part in this new community asset and we look forward to continuing the relationships cemented here in Seaton to develop the community even further.”

For the last three years, extensive public consultation was carried out to create a programme of work which would reflect the needs of the community.

Many of the ideas for the revamp were proposed by children from Seaton as part of a Planning for Real consultation last year which saw 100s of youngsters pinpoint what they would like to see on a 3D model of the area.

The project also involved improvements such as new external lighting, installing more flower plants and creating seating areas.

To address the issue of dog fouling, Aberdeen City Council constructed “dog toilets”, as well as the provision of more dog waste bins in the area and also knocked down the old crumbling washhouses and put up secure fencing.

Contributions of £102,000 were also made to the project by Aberdeen Greenspace and a number of public grants.