Donside Village Community SCIO now owns and manages the land which is home to Scotland’s first urban community hydro scheme.
The Donside Village Community is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) run by local people. Donside Village is a relatively new housing development of about 350 homes on the site of the former Donside Papermill. The group’s community ownership journey began in 2014 at a residents’ meeting with a proposal to revive plans for a hydro scheme at the edge of the housing development. Donside Village Community SCIO now owns and manages the land which is home to Scotland’s first urban community hydro scheme. This case study looks at their journey, their challenges and successes and their plans for the future.