The Dumfries Midsteeple Quarter have reached an exciting stage in their plans and are pleased to announce the purchase of 113-115 and 117-119 High Street. This is a huge step forward for the regeneration of Dumfries High Street by this community-led organisation. These were the two buildings that they were sadly unsuccessful in bidding for at auction in February 2019, but they have finally come back to community ownership…..it was meant to be!
Scott Mackay, manager of MSQ commented “Midsteeple Quarter are excited about this big step forward into Phase Two of our plans for the regeneration of Dumfries High Street. We can’t wait to transform these buildings that have been empty and abandoned for many, many years and show them the love and affection they deserve. We’d like to thank South of Scotland Enterprise for their financial support and to everyone who has contributed to making this happen.”
Back in October 2019, two community consultation events were organised by The Stove Network for Midsteeple Quarter. The widely publicised events took the form of open-door discussion sessions and display material presenting draft proposals for the buildings and visitors were asked to comment as fully as possible. The consultation events were well supported and over the course of the two days 121 people attended, mostly resident in Dumfries. Midsteeple Quarter were pleased to see the local community participating in the development of this important project for Dumfries. The response was overwhelmingly positive and in particular, strong support was expressed for: – creating a new community, with housing in the Midsteeple block, maintaining the traditional street and close pattern and community ownership of the project. People reacted positively to the general design principles, taking account of the site constraints, and generally liked the mix of housing and commercial uses and the public spaces created by the scheme.
A feasibility study and business plan were commissioned from architects Oliver Chapman Architects and Urban Animation made possible by funding from Scottish Land Fund.
The next phase of work will see the frontage of the two properties cleaned up and the street level spaces being used in the medium term as ‘meanwhile spaces’ for start up businesses and social enterprise whilst the detailed preparations are carried out for the full development work. We will be consulting with the community on potential meanwhile uses going forward.
As part of the plans for Phase One, in August, MSQ also acquired no.1 Standard Close, a small building to the rear of The Oven, which is to be demolished to make way for the recently approved redevelopment of that building.
The purchase of these properties marks the beginning of Phase Two in the regeneration efforts for the town centre by this community society. The purchase of the properties was made possible by funding from South of Scotland Enterprise.
Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) Professor Russel Griggs OBE said:
“Today’s announcement marks a huge step forward for Midsteeple Quarter and its work around the transformation of Dumfries High Street. The significant investment will also contribute to the further development of this strategically important Town Centre regeneration programme.
“Our predecessor SOSEP worked extensively with a wide range of people and organisations in the South of Scotland to support their journey from application to approval. We will continue to work with the team, which confirms our ambition and commitment to make the south the thriving economy we know it can be.
“Community input is vital for the success of any future vision for town centres, and Midsteeple Quarter is a great example of that as it enables the community to make changes happen through their ideas and aspirations for the town.”
If you have a business idea you would like to try out in one of these shops as a temporary use, then Midsteeple Quarter would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with them at [email protected], or call Scott Mackay MSQ manager on 07985765908
