Village Improvement Fund - Guidelines
1. Background
West Lothian Council has agreed to establish a Village Improvements Fund of £1.65m
phased over five years. This is split between two schemes:


Rural shop front improvement scheme; and
Small scale village improvements and initiatives fund.
For the improvement and initiatives element initially each village or village area has been
allocated a specific amount depending of population size. Details of the allocation are set out
in appendix 1.
2. A shop frontage/shop improvement scheme
Local independent retailers can apply. This will operate in a similar way to the shop frontage
improvement schemes for traditional town centres i.e. a grant of up to £750 and no more
than 50% of the cost of the shop front improvement for further information please refers to
premises improvement design guidelines. For information on this part of the scheme contact:
Rebecca Boyd
Economic Development,
West Lothian Council,
The Civic Centre,
Howden Road South,
Livingston,
EH54 6FF
Tel: 01506 282383
e-mail: rebecca.boyd@westlothian.gov.uk
3. Small scale village improvements and initiatives fund
This could include a number of types of investment that provide physical improvements to
the village streetscape or other capital improvements identified by the community:
Examples of physical improvements might be:





Provision of street furniture such as seating, cycle stands and direction signs.
Improved village gateways (e.g.; through planting, landscaping and/or signage).
Improved sense of place in village centres through hard landscaping, planting and
soft landscape improvements.
Tidying and landscaping of gap sites within villages.
Access improvements in and around villages.
4. Developing Projects
In considering projects community based organisations should consider how:
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 Projects should be bottom-up and developed through local consultation before
being considered by the relevant local area committee (LAC).
 Projects should demonstrate how they contribute to specific local outcomes. It
may be that your village projects align with ward action plans, the local plan
and other established plans which will help develop your application.
 Multi-sectoral involvement – projects applications might be developed by local
businesses, community based organisations and local partnerships involving
council services.
 Projects should be revenue neutral or, where this is not the case, full provision
should be made for the revenue consequences of the proposal.
Developing proposals will be supported by the Community Regeneration Officer
responsible and lead officers with responsibility for each village, within their LAC.
The Community Regeneration Officers to contact in the first instance are:





Douglas Benson (Ward 8 Armadale & Blackridge and Ward 9 Bathgate); tel:
01506 281970 or e-mail douglas.benson@westlothian.gov.uk
Douglas Grierson (Ward 1 Linlithgow and Ward 2 Broxburn, Uphall and
Winchburgh);
tel:
01506
281088
or
e-mail
douglas.grierson@westlothian.gov.uk
Laura Wilson (Ward 6 Fauldhouse and Breich Valley); tel: 01506 281085 or email laura.wilson@westlothian.gov.uk
Scott McKillop (Ward 7 Whitburn and Blackburn); tel: 01506 281092 or e-mail
scott.mckillop@westlothian.gov.uk
George Scott (Ward 5 East Livingston and East Calder); tel: 01506 281099 or
e-mail george.scott@westlothian.gov.uk
5. Decision making process
All applications will be considered by the relevant Local Area Committee (LAC) for the Ward.
These can be submitted at any time but must be received no less than four weeks prior to
the date of the LAC meeting for consideration by that committee.
Dates of the individual LAC meetings can be found at
http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/Council_and_government/locality-mmw/
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Appendix 1
Mid-2010 Population Estimates - Localities in order of size (as defined by Scottish
Govt)
Multi Member Ward Villages with more than 500 residents (£125,000 or £55,000)
£125.000
•
East Calder (5,480)
•
Blackburn (5,250)
•
Fauldhouse (4,880)
•
West Calder (3,110)
•
Mid Calder (2,830)
WARD
E Livingston & E Calder
Whitburn and Blackburn
Fauldhouse & BV
Fauldhouse & BV
E Livingston & E Calder
£55.000
•
Winchburgh (2,430)
•
Polbeth (2,400)
•
Stoneyburn and Bents (2,020)
•
Kirknewton (1,930)
•
Blackridge (1,840)
•
Uphall Station (1,810)
•
Addiebrownhill and Loganlea (1,550)
•
Pumpherston (1,380)
•
Seafield (1,360)
•
East Whitburn (1,170)
•
Greenrigg (1,020)
•
Longridge (990)
•
Bridgend (790)
•
Dechmont (670)
•
Torphichen (570)
Broxburn, Uphall & Winchburgh
Fauldhouse & BV
Fauldhouse & BV
E Livingston & E Calder
Armadale & Blackridge
E Livingston & E Calder
Fauldhouse & BV
E Livingston & E Calder
Whitburn and Blackburn
Whitburn and Blackburn
Whitburn and Blackburn
Fauldhouse & BV
Linlithgow
Broxburn, Uphall &Winchburgh
Armadale & Blackridge
Villages with less than 500 people £20,000
•
Breich
•
Ecclesmachan/Oatridge
•
Newton/Woodend
•
Philpstoun & Threemiletown
•
Westfield
•
Wilkieston
Fauldhouse & BV
Broxburn, Uphall & Winchburgh
Linlithgow
Linlithgow
Armadale& Blackridge
E Livingston & E Calder
* Note: Livingston locality as defined by GRO(S) includes Pumpherston and Uphall
Station as contiguous urban area. Figures shown above for Pumpherston and Uphall
are based on GRO(S) datazone estimates for 2010.
Source: Scottish Government GRO(S) and WLC Economic Development
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