Monday 3 August marked an important day on every planner's calendar.  Yes, it was a public holiday, but more importantly it was the day when new arrangements come into place for dealing with planning applications and appeals, and giving communities a greater say. The day may have passed, but planning reform is here to stay.

The Creative Waste Exchange collects materials donated by local businesses and companies and after sorting and some preparation makes these materials available to the community as a good quality, low-cost resource.

In 2003, Aberdeen Forward introduced a Master Composter Programme into Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Council areas. The Master Composter Programme, which was devised in the US, is designed to promote effective home composting, aiming to increase participation rates in composting and provide high quality environmental education.

This is a good example of the local community caring for an historic site in their local environment that would otherwise be lost. They have done this by setting up an organisation specifically to renovate and maintain the Grain Kiln building.

The Gordon Community Woodland Trust bought local woodland in July 2002. The trust runs a programme of events to get the local community involved in the woodland and has ongoing projects to develop the woodland for recreation.

A sympathetic refurbishment of Loch Ossian Youth which included a renovated eco-friendly structure, renewable energy and ecologically sound water and waste disposal systems, which take into account the fragile local environment.

The Helensburgh & District Access Forum set up the Garrawy Glen Footpath Project as part of their paths strategy to improve an existing but much-neglected path on the outskirts of Helensburgh. The path had the potential to be both a pleasant walk in itself and also a useful link to other paths taking walkers further into the countryside.

This project was to implement five community garden projects between April and September 2002 as part of the Community Gardens element of the Tern TV Beechgrove Garden series.

This was a community development project with an emphasis on environmental sustainability. The funding paid for the Community Development Worker's salary (& support costs).