Dumfries town centre regeneration project officially starts

A disused property in the heart of the town will be converted into business units and housing

Work has officially started on the first phase of a £7.2m town centre regeneration project in Dumfries.

The Midsteeple Quarter scheme will bring buildings on the High Street back into use as homes and business units.

A funding package is now in place with about half the money coming from the Scottish government.

Planning Minister Tom Arthur said innovative projects like the Dumfries one could play a "powerful role" in transforming town centres.

The work to overhaul the former Baker's Oven building - which is expected to take about 18 months to complete - is being funded by a range of organisations.

Tom Arthur said the work he had seen in Dumfries was "really inspiring"

The full breakdown is:

• Scottish government Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) - £3,460,000

• South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) - £2,199,852

• Dumfries and Galloway Council (via the place-based investment programme) - £916,889

• Holywood Trust - £350,000

• Dumfries High Street Limited (trading as Midsteeple Quarter) - £300,000

The disused site at 135-139 High Street is one of five buildings in the heart of Dumfries brought back into community ownership by the Midsteeple Quarter.

The aim is to help revive the historic town centre by encouraging more people to live and work in the area.

"I am very impressed, it is really inspiring," said Mr Arthur. "I think what makes it so inspiring is that it is community-led."

He said that he had come to Dumfries to see first hand what lessons could be learned by other parts of the country.

"All our town centres are unique and all face challenges that can be slightly different," he said.

"But there are certain common challenges that we know town centres have faced - particularly around the decline of high street retail, something accelerated by the pandemic."

He said communities - with Scottish government support - had a key role in turning things around.

Alison Macleod said work had begun to bring a community back to the town centre

Alison Macleod, society secretary of the Midsteeple Quarter, said they were "really exciting times" for the group.

"I'm surprised how fast it has all moved," she said.

She said they had gone from being easily outbid for buildings the group wanted to buy at auction to being able to purchase a number of sites.

The Baker's Oven building will become an enterprise space on the ground floor with meeting spaces above and seven two-bedroom flats at the back.

"It is going to start bringing community back into the town centre where there are very few people actually living," she said.

"It is basically about rebuilding a community."