Project: Maybole Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS), South Ayrshire
Theme: Match Funding
The Project
| Grantee organisation | South Ayrshire Council |
| Total HES funding | £1,289,607 |
| Total Scheme Cost | £7,500,000 |
| Scheme Delivery Period | 2019-2025 |
Maybole CARS is being delivered in conjunction with a Townscape Heritage (TH) funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). The local community were instrumental in developing the Maybole Town Centre Regeneration Project which is being delivered by South Ayrshire Council in close partnership with the Community Council, Cassillis Estate and other community representatives. A major catalyst for the scheme was the confirmation of funding for the new A77 bypass which will mean a significant reduction in the volume of HGV traffic through the town, which was having a detrimental impact on the historic buildings in the Conservation Area.
Theme: Match Funding
Maybole CARS is an ambitious scheme including several high value projects. Overall the total scheme cost is £7.5 million, meaning that that funding required to be found from a number of funders. This involved finding funding to support the costs of the overall scheme and also for some of the individual projects such as the Town Hall, which has been successful for funding through Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
Artists Impression of Maybole Town Centre. Image © SAC
The major scheme funders are included in the table below:
| Funder | Funding Award |
| Historic Environment Scotland | £1,289,607 |
| National Lottery Heritage Fund | £1,320,000 |
| South Ayrshire Council | £1,300,000 |
| SG Regeneration Capital Grants Fund (Priority Projects: Town Hall & Charity Shop) | £380,000 |
| SG Regeneration Capital Grants Fund (Priority Projects: Maybole Castle) | £729,000 |
| SUSTRANS to develop Active Travel Routes (conditioned on approval of Stage 4 Design) | £1,500,000 |
| North Carrick Community Benefit Company | £125,000 |
Over and above this, other smaller funding amounts were awarded including to Carrick Community Leisure SCIO who own and operate a local community facility which has received CARS funding towards its repair. This included funding from South West Environmental Action Trust (SAWET) and the Robertson Trust.
Key Findings/Conclusions
In Maybole, the amount of match funding awarded to support the scheme means that several projects can proceed where this would have been unlikely to happen with just the HES/NLHF and South Ayrshire Council funding.
A wide and varied range of partnership match funding can allow for more work and activities to be undertaken and also allow for greater flexibility as some funding, including HES CARS, will be restricted in terms of what it can be used to support. It can also sometimes be the case that once one major funder is on board to support a project then this can be critical in helping to leverage in other funding.