Stromness town centre retailers can apply for funds from the Stromness Townscape Heritage Initiative Grants to help make their shop fronts ship shape during winter 2011.
It’s one part of the overall Stromness THI Grants aimed at restoring the conservation area of Stromness.
Under the Winter 2011 grants scheme, the Stromness THI team will be promoting the grants to retailers within the Stromness Conservation Area for up to 75% of the costs of works to shop signage and shop fronts (maximum grant value £3000). To also encourage works additional points will be awarded during the usual THI assessment process for projects which involve shop fronts or signage.
The Stromness THI Townscape Heritage Initiative Grants will also have two lines of funding available for properties within the Stromness Conservation Area:
Large Grants - Large grants are available to properties in the conservation area for comprehensive repairs ie different elements on a property eg chimneys, roof and downpipes. These have no upper financial cap but will be awarded up to a maximum of 50% award. A total of £150,000 is presently available for large grant awards.
Small Grants - Small grants are available for a property where there may be one element requiring repair or where a property has already had considerable investment but needs attention to upgrade one element remaining, for example, to replace plastic rainwater goods with cast iron. These grants are capped at 50% of costs with a maximum financial value of £3000. There is a total of £50,000 available for small grant awards.
To be eligible to apply for a grant each property will be assessed and scored against a points system. The assessment considers the prominence of the property, the historical authenticity of the building and the works proposed. To be considered for a ‘large grant’ , properties will need to attract 20 points or over, with the threshold for ‘small grants’ being 10 points.
The grant amounts will be reviewed by the Stromness THI Partnership on October 5, with the possibility that the amount available for grants will be increased.
To date, the Stromness THI has awarded £1,377,288 in property grants to 22 properties within the Stromness Conservation Area. A further five properties have ‘decision in principle’ taking the proportion of funds now committed to around 80% of the current budget available.
For more information about the Stromness THI and property grants and points system, contact the team, who are based in the Old Stromness Academy, on 01856 852030 or by email
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