The Highland Council has won a top national award for co-ordinating an imaginative project to identify affordable housing in stressed rural areas.

The Council has received recognition in the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning - run by the Scottish Executive and the Royal Town Planning Institute – for the Rural Partnership for Change Highland Pilot, led by The Highland Council housing and planning officers, working with Communities Scotland and local housing associations and trusts.

This partnership approach is unique in Scotland in terms of planning for affordable housing. Judges said it was an excellent model for rural areas, containing practical lessons for tackling affordable housing right across Scotland.

Councillor Sandy Park, Chairman of the Council’s Planning, Development, Europe and Tourism Committee, said: "I am delighted that the hard work of this partnership, in which two Council Services have played a key role, has received this award. I would also like to express my thanks to our other partners for making the Rural Partnership for Change such a success."

The partnership has developed a new methodology to identify communities experiencing housing stress from a number of supply, demand and socio-economic factors. One of the key successes of the project has been the establishment of eight Local Housing Development Forums, which bring together all those involved in developing housing to discuss housing needs and potential solutions and bring forward action on the ground – recognising the need for individually tailored solutions. The Forums have facilitated a more active approach to affordable housing development and have been independently assessed as "representing real innovation in partnership and housing planning".