Scottish Empty Homes Partnership Conferenc

Do you know of empty homes in your local area?

The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership is inviting Scotland’s Community Councils, Community and Development Trusts, and any organisation involved in local regeneration, to attend the upcoming 10^th Scottish Empty Homes Conference (1^st-3^rd February 2021), which will be held online for the first time.

A single empty home can cause a nuisance to a community and clusters of empty homes can lead to a spiral of decline, from anti-social behaviour to a decline in nearby property values. 

With the theme Providing Homes, Helping Recovery, this year’s conference will focus on best practice and insights on all aspects of tackling Scotland’s 47,000 empty homes.

Scottish Empty Homes Partnership are offering all community organisations in Scotland a special 2-for-1 ticket offer on all tickets, with single day tickets available for £30 and full conference passes available for £80. To access the 2-for-1 offer please register one ticket at this link, then contact the organiser This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.for your free pass.

We are delighted to announce that the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning Kevin Stewart MSP will be presenting and answering questions from participants, and with a host of other speakers now agreed.

We want to see communities thrive by ensuring that empty homes are brought back to life and enjoyed by people and families. Day Three of the conference focuses on how empty homes can transform communities with a session from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Empty Homes Officer Murdo Macleod, exploring how bringing homes back into use can help sustain communities in remote locations. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Community Asset Transfer Training

COSS will be running two webinars providing an introduction to the Community Asset Transfer process this month. This is Module 1 of the COSS 6-module programme 'Assets for People and Places'.

The first webinar will be held on Thursday 21st January from 10am to 12 noon. The second will be held on Thursday 28th January from 7pm to 9pm. Both webinars will be the same. 

Further information about the webinars is available through this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/module-1-introduction-to-community-asset-transfer-presentation-tickets-133335651523 

We are very keen to encourage community councils across Scotland to attend a webinar if they are interested. Would you be able to add these events to your website and send an email to all community councils informing them of this event? 

If you have any questions please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or the COSS Advisor who will be delivering the webinars, Lynn Molleson, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Edinburgh Living Landscape programme 2021

Following instruction from the Culture and Communities Committee meeting of 15 September 2020, Parks and Greenspace have opened an online consultation about our Edinburgh Living Landscape programme 2021 with the intention of increasing public awareness and participation in the planning process. The consultation goes live on Wednesday 23 December using the council’s Consultation Hub and will run until Friday 29 January 2021. 

The consultation is being circulated to all Elected Members, Community Councils, the Edinburgh Green Spaces Forum, our wider community stakeholder contacts and also via social media.  We would encourage everyone to circulate the consultation to your constituents and partners to promote participation.

The consultation can be accessed here: https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/living-landscapes-comments-and-suggestions