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Highland groups benefit from a share of more than £1.9 million from the Scottish Land Fund

Pier improvements and affordable homes are among the projects being financially supported.

Coigach Community Development Company is to invest more than £300,0000 to construct affordable properties and local amenities in Achiltibuie thanks to a grant from the Scottish Land Fund. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.
Coigach Community Development Company is to invest more than £300,0000 to construct affordable properties and local amenities in Achiltibuie thanks to a grant from the Scottish Land Fund. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.

Groups across the Highlands are celebrating after securing a share of £1.9 million awarded by the Scottish Land Fund.

Plans for affordable housing in a rural Highland village have drawn one step closer thanks to a £300,000 grant.

Coigach Community Development Company has been awarded £304,700 by the Scottish Land Fund to construct affordable properties and local amenities in Achiltibuie.

The development has been earmarked for creation on a derelict plot of land in the centre of the village; formerly home to a local farm where vegetables were once grown without the use of soil.

The project is one of several across the Highlands being supported by the Scottish Land Fund.

Grants totalling more than £727,000 have been distributed to groups across the north in the fund’s latest round of awards.

A total of £1,972,701 is being awarded to 16 groups across Scotland.

‘Funding will prove a real game changer’

Richard Williams, chairman of Coigach Community Development Company, said the grant is a “game changer” in helping to make their dreams a reality.

He said: “This funding will prove a real game changer for Coigach, allowing us to now purchase what for the past 12 years has been a derelict piece of land in the centre of our village.

“Once in community ownership, we have ambitious plans to transform this site for the long-term benefit of Coigach – by constructing a range of housing types and tenures, realising a long-held goal and key aspiration for the community.”

 

Staffin Community Trust is investing their £116,064 grant into purchasing and redeveloping the local harbour area, including the slipway. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.

Meanwhile, on Skye, Staffin Community Trust is investing their £116,064 grant into purchasing a slipway protected by a breakwater, plus onshore hard standing, a derelict boathouse and a parcel of land in Staffin.

The trust aims to redevelop and improve the local harbour to serve a range of different users and boost the area’s local economy.

Donald MacDonald, Staffin Community Trust chairman, spoke of their delight, saying: “We are delighted to have received this award from the Scottish Land Fund and particularly want to thank the staff for their support and guidance.

“This is a transformational project that will bring economic and social benefits to the community for generations and could not be achieved without external financial support.”

Highland beneficiaries of Scottish Land Fund grants

Other groups benefitting from Scottish Land Fund grants include Nether Lochaber Community Association which is aiming to take ownership of Inchree Barn.

The group will invest their £45,000 grant towards repairing the barn to create a community hub, designed to tackle rural isolation.

Dornie and District Community Trust will also use its award of £66,316 to acquire the former Dornie Store building. The group will renovate the building and reopen the shop and post office, establish a cafe and offer the flat above as an affordable rental opportunity.

Inspire Inverary have been awarded £121,000 for the purchase and restoration of Inverary Pier in Argyll as Tiree Community Development Trust aim to acquire land in Crossapol with a £73,415 grant.

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