Banff and Macduff Resident Plan
Supporting the development of a consensually agreed community-led plan for regeneration(* The Scottish Government describes a ‘Just Transition’ as “a greener, fairer future for all; and about how we get there – in partnership with communities, workers, and businesses”. CCN understands this to mean the viability for communities to thrive into the future in socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and fair ways.)
Banff and Macduff are two towns located on the north Aberdeenshire coast, connected by a bridge crossing the river Deveron. Historically both towns thrived economically due advatages afforded by their coastal locations, however the cumulative impacts of increased globalisation, Council restructuring during the 1970s, greater mechanisation of the fishing and farming industries, the economic crash, online shopping and public service cuts, have all led to economic decline in the towns. Both towns are now ranked among some of the lowest in average household income in Scotland.
As if to highlight the compounding challenges, the project occured alongside a backdrop of sweeping public service cuts, including; the listing of two town halls on the open market and the closure of an Arts Centre, and the threat of closure of a library, withdrawal of the harbour nightwatchman post, and removal of locally historically significant artefacts from Banff Museum. These events, all of which were announced without public engagement, served to catalyse awareness of the need for greater community-led action. The Resident Plan helped to consolidate local people’s aspirations and will enable future representation and local governance.
The Plan was produced following a wide-reaching engagement process which built a consensually agreed detailed understanding of the two towns based on issues deemed important to residents. The process initially involved direct one-to-one conversations with individuals with knowledge and experience of particular locally significant issues. This was followed by workshops with specific demographics and community groups, engagement with young people via the 3 local schools, followed by a series of community meetings among other broader community-wide outreach processes. Further details on the process can be found below.
One of the outcomes of the process was a widely shared recognition that while the towns of Banff and Macduff are characterised by distinct individual identities, they also relied on one another economically. It surfaced a commonly felt perception that despite the towns’ distinct identities and often divisive relationship, residents felt that both constituted one single community and that their furtures are inextricably intertwined. The Plan strengthened the perception that the towns need to come together in order to strengthen community-led governance and action.
Throughout the project 1,455 residents directly participated in the Resident Plan, including young people, business owners, representatives from key community ‘anchor’ local organisations, those attending support services (financial, social, medical and mental health), farmers and young parents. The Plan is understood to have the agreement of a large and representative portion of the two communities in this way.
The Resident Plan outlines the agreement reached around 4 broad Themes for Action; Reviving Our Beautiful Civic Centres, Developing Local Tourism and Other Economic Opportunities, Strengthening Our Communities, Protecting and Enhancing Community Services and Infrastructure.
The diverse input into the process enabled these to be understood and articulated as intersecting issues requiring careful consideration of potential knock-on effects or unintended consequences when considering new development proposals. (See circular shaped image to the right and above outlining the relationships between the Themes in green circles.)
The Themes are also underpinned by Principles (the diagram immaediately below) which emerged through discussion and deliberation, including reflection on locally important historical events. They are understood to be fundamental for preserving the integrity and cohesion of the two towns and serve to evaluate the suitability of proposed developments locally.
While the creation of a Local Place Plan (LPP) was beyond the scope of this particular project, residents are now considering using the Plan as the basis of their LPP, which can be achieved through a straightforward administrative process. This would ensure the contents of the Plan are regarded as a material consideration with the planning policy. Following its completion a group of residents have been working to establish a Community Development Trust for the towns, one of the priority projects identified in the Plan. The Trust aims to use the Plan to inform its strategic direction and mobilise the agreed actions.
The outcomes of the Resident Plan have complemented the Council’s ongoing support for Banff and Macduff…. Together, this joined-up approach has helped build momentum, confidence and partnership working to support the long-term vitality of both towns.
Process
Initial Community Engagement (November 2023 – January 2024) was centred on in-depth one-to-one discussions with a diverse cross-section of residents guided by the goal of collating voices or perspectives which could establish (to the extent possible) a complete and accurate description of each town and thematic areas deemed important by residents. The conversations surfaced views and perspectives in regard to local assets, challenges, histories and aspirations, and early ideas about “what’s good”, “what needs improving,” and “how we got here.”
In parallel, engagement with young people was facilitated by A Place in Childhood (APiC) and Action for a Fairer World (AFW) through Banff and Macduff Primaries and Banff Academy. Young people’s insights contributed directly to the emerging picture and thematic development of the towns and were included in all proceeding activities. These discussions and conversations continued alongside the other phases until project completion, as gaps in understanding and resident involvement were identified by the community.
Resident Community Meetings (February – June 2024), a number of community meetings, ranging in size from 10-30 local residents, were held with the aim of identifying and agreeing common priorities relevant to specific themes. Participants included; support users accessing a range of services (e.g. health, wellbeing, economic and employment), parents of children under 5, young people, and members of key local community groups seen as local ‘anchor’ organisations. While these were thematically focussed, they involved a diverse mix of residents, from community leaders, volunteers and organisations with specific roles in the towns. The meetings provided a forum for consolidating and building upon emerging outputs from the proceeding work, and agreeing on a set of priorities and/or courses of action relevant to each group. Each meeting was followed with a written outcomes document being shared to all participants for comment, validation or objection. This was in turn followed by a presentation of the validated outcomes in order to facilitate further reflection on the emergent ideas.
In June 2024, a meeting involving a diverse group of residents who had participated throughout the project was held with the aim of reviewing, refining, validating and/or objecting to all of the project’s emergent outcomes. Participants involved those with lived experience and knowledge relevant to all of the themes previously raised. There was broad agreement around the proposed priorities which were refined and improved during the meeting, and a number of practical interventions were identified and agreed upon, which were explored further in the following Phases.
Key interventions were identified including; the need for a strategic approach to improving and renovating town centre buildings, further research on visitor/tourist needs and opportunities, a digital community Hub or website to support effective resident communication across the towns and local groups (including a multi-purpose physical Hub in the longer-term), community events to better articulate, celebrate and gather around our shared local heritage, and the need to engage the wider community with the work carried out to date to allow more residents to participate and contribute views. Young people also developed their ideas for a Youth-led Hub, including a design, potential activities, ground rules and governance structures, and plan for renovation and decoration involving receiving training from local community groups and traders.
Whole-Community Engagement (May 2025 – June 2025). Whole community outreach was carried out via an online and paper survey where residents were invited to comment on, improve and/or object to the agreed themes and priorities from the previous stages of work, and suggest others where necessary. A door-to-door leaflet drop was conducted across all houses in the towns notifying residents of the Resident Plan and a survey, which could be accessed through links and QR codes. A social media page was created by residents for further awareness-raising and communication. Paper copies and cardboard ‘post-boxes’ were installed at key locations across the towns for those without access to the internet. This enabled a total of 1455 residents to participate directly in the Resident Plan, just under 35% of the households of the two towns’. While feedback from the survey included suggestions of additional priorities, and individuals and groups expressed preferences, none of the original proposed priorities received strong objections.
Finalising the Resident Plan (August – September 2025). Comments and improvements from the survey responses were collated and incorporated with the original priorities into a Draft Resident Plan, which was circulated among all who provided contact information. This provided a final opportunity for comment, improvement or strong objections, to ensure the Plan faithfully and accurately reflected the wishes and aspirations of residents.