A 10-year campaign by a Lewis community to take control of a local estate could be completed within months after confirmation of a significant funding package.
The Scottish Land Fund has given £230,000 to Pairc Trust towards the purchase of Pairc Estate in Lewis.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has also announced £76,500 funding, matching the amount previously given by Western Isles Council.
The trust made an offer to purchase the 26,775-acre estate for £500,000 after a public meeting in November and the community has been involved in raising hundreds of thousands of pounds towards their share of the cost.
Pairc Trust chairman Angus McDowall, said: “This substantial award from the Scottish Land Fund, together with financial support obtained or expected from CnES and HIE, will enable us to purchase the estate through an amicable transfer on the terms outlined and approved at the public meeting last month.
“I am most grateful to the Scottish Land Fund, and our other funders, for their very valuable assistance.
“There now seems every prospect of concluding arrangements to transfer the estate to the community during the early months of 2014.”
Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse said the final pieces of the Pairc Estate funding package, which will also allow for the appointment of a full-time development manager, “marked the end” of a 10-year journey for the residents.
Mr Wheelhouse said: “Land reform is a crucial part of our plans for a more successful Scotland, and I believe that – just as those who live and work in Scotland are best placed to make decisions about the country’s future – local communities are best-placed to decide on their futures. The whole community around the Pairc Estate has worked tirelessly over the past decade to bring their land into local ownership and I am delighted to announce today that the Scottish Land Fund will provide the final part of the funding package to allow the purchase to take place.
“Today’s announcement marks an important milestone in the ten-year journey for the Pairc Estate residents, who can now look forward to a sustainable future in which their destiny is in their own hands and the decisions that affect them in terms of land management can be taken at a local level.”