Townscape Heritage Initiative
Introduction
The Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) is part of the overall Stornoway Regeneration Strategy and is based on using conservation of the historic environment as the main driver.
Promoted by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) the project, in Stornoway, is a funding partnership between the Comhairle, the then Western Isles Enterprise, Historic Scotland and the HLF. In all the project funding amounted to £2.2m with one of the biggest awards from the HLF in Scotland at the time of approval.
After a two stage submission process the project finally received approval in 2006. However, it was unable to officially commence until 2007. As a five year project it is due to be completed in 2012. The project can only apply to a designated Conservation Area. In Stornoway’s case the THI area is much smaller so as to focus the available funding.
Download a map of the Stornoway Outstanding Conservation area and THI focus area (PDF, 235K)
The project was made up of four key elements-
- Public Realm Works e.g. Cromwell Street repaving, Lews Castle Sea Walls repair.
- A Property Grants Scheme. The scheme provided grants to repair and restore buildings using traditional materials and methods.
- A Critical Project – The restoration/ re-use of a major building in the town.
- Complementary Initiatives e.g. Presentations on Conservation Awareness, Training in Traditional Skills.
Progress on each aspect of the Project is set out on the individual pages listed on the right hand side of this page. Should you require further information please use the Contact page.
