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Achiltibuie Smokehouse Now in Community Ownership! CCDC NEWS COIGACH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY c CCDC NEWS Coigach Community Development Company Summer 2013 SUPPORTERS, FRIENDS AND FORMER EMPLOYEES CELEBRATE! IN THIS ISSUE Achiltibuie Smokehouse now in Community Ownership! Following the gloomy news in February 2012 CCDC’s many other projects and so comes that Summer Isles Foods were transferring with a wealth of useful experience and ideas. operations to Alness, CCDC took action and Peter will take up the post in early July and after various twists and turns on the road will work with the Smokehouse finally took over ownership in April this year. subcommittee, local businesses and Thanks primarily to the Scottish Land Fund members of the community towards a bright What will happen to Acheninver the community of Coigach is now the proud future for the building. owner of the building and CCDC is able to Youth Hostel? employ a Business Project Officer to take As SYHA’s lease of this iconic building comes to an end, plans forward to refurbish the building, the future of the hostel is in question. nurture local business ideas and create jobs to replace the 10-12 that were lost when the Page 2 Smokehouse closed. As part of the Community Right to Buy process the community had to raise 5% of the cost itself. We appealed for donations and thanks to people here in Coigach and friends and supporters elsewhere we raised over £5000 in a week. Many thanks to all of you who contributed and made the purchase possible. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER CCDC were sorry to receive Peter Muir’s resignation as Local Development Officer but as one door closes another opens and we are Achiltibuie Schoolhouse delighted to welcome him back on board as With an uncertain future ahead CCDC are considering Business Development Officer. Peter was community ownership for the schoolhouse. Highland instrumental in the purchase of the Council have offered to transfer it to the community. smokehouse and has done sterling work on Page 2 Ali Beag: ready for business! CCDC NEWS COIGACH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY | 2 Achiltibuie Schoolhouse Concerns arose last summer about the future of our schoolhouse. Highland Councillors Richard Green and Ian Cockburn had told us that the schoolhouse was to be transferred to The Highland Council (THC) housing stock and would therefore become a council house. However, a letter at the time from the Education Department was ‘Ello ‘Ello LDO not so reassuring so CCDC resolved unanimously to register a Community Right Another new but familiar face has to Buy (CRtB) interest on the property to joined the CCDC team. Anne Campbell, protect it from sale and to ensure there from Culnacraig is going to be our new would always be accommodation available Local Development Officer and will for a school teacher. THC are steering us Can you spot our new LDO Abigail Anne start work in mid July. Anne shares the towards a transfer of the property to the Campbell with her schoolmates? post and the grand Campbell name community, but CCDC would prefer it with existing LDO Julia. remained with THC, to be looked after and It’s 35 years since Island View, the refurbished by them. We have established a community’s only social housing was small working group to look at the issue built. What Kati Did further and to seek the views of the wider About 50% of houses in Coigach are community. What do you think? holiday homes. This year the school roll falls to 13 – the lowest in over 50 years. If you are on the Council waiting list or would like to live in Coigach please get in touch so we can build up a register for future reference. Harris Community Trust Acheninver Youth Hostel Earlier this year adventurer Mark Beaumont visited Coigach and the hostel in his role as This summer we are delighted to ambassador for Scottish Wildlife Trust. welcome Kati Venho to our midst. As Later we were informed that SYHA’s lease our community research intern, Kati’s with Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), who own On a recent study visit we visited North post is funded and supported by Third Harris Trust where they have built Ben Mor Estate and the youth hostel Sector Internships Scotland and Queen building, comes to an end. CCDC has been community housing on land donated by the Margaret University. Our advertised approached by SYHA expressing their hope common grazings committee. A report of the that Acheninver Youth Hostel could be visit will be on the website soon. post attracted over 30 applicants and transferred to and run by the Community. following a successful interview Kati was SYHA are keen to see it continue in the Badentarbet Pier and Old appointed to the post and started work hostelling tradition and in the meantime they in early June. Kati comes from Finland have indicated that they will review the lease Dornie Harbour (and is close to Santa Claus she tells us) annually for the next two years. It would be but is currently studying at Edinburgh As part of the consultation being carried out sad to contemplate the hostel closing as University. She says she has really by engineering firm Wallace Stone, we held many a happy hosteller has enjoyed a stay enjoyed her first month here and has here for over 70 years and budget drop-in session for pier users to add their met lots of local people, had a go at accommodation like this is in short supply. own comments, suggestions and proposals. The hostel has become something of an icon We’ll soon be receiving the draft report rowing and is getting used to life in featuring prominently in SHYA’s own which will give us all better idea of what to do wellies. advertising and it is something of a symbol next and whether community ownership is a viable option. for getting away from it all and enjoying a slice of the outdoor life. CCDC will endeavour CCDC AGM The pier and harbour are currently owned and to investigate options but with a busy run by The Highland Council but years of Monday 28 October 2013 schedule of other projects our time and ccdc7pm Coigach Community Hall resources are very limited so offers of help under-investment has led to severe deterioration at Badentarbet and a lack of Achiltibuie are welcome. services at Old Dornie. CCDC NEWS COIGACH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY | 3 Renewables News Ben Mor Hydro Project Coigach Citizens Online Step by step we are making progress The development of our joint venture with two renewable projects, namely the hydro scheme is slowly moving forward Coigach Community Wind Turbine and too. The location of the turbine house is the Ben Mor Hydro scheme. The income to be on Steve Husband’s croft at they will generate will help the Acheninver, and plans have been community to become economically circulated to crofters and landowners stronger, resilient to further economic who will be directly affected. Our shocks and help us survive the many consultant, Gordon Robertson, hosted a challenges that are coming our way. drop-in consultation event which gave With outside agencies contracting due to everyone the opportunity to look at In early spring we ran a series of internet dwindling finances there will be little proposals and add their comments. training sessions in partnership with investment in jobs and services – unless Citizens Online, a registered charity we do it for ourselves. whose aim is to ensure that no-one should miss out on the many services and information delivered via the Coigach Community internet. Citizens Online funded the Wind Turbine recruitment and training of tutors and paid for the hall hire. By Easter an enthusiastic bunch of self-confessed Last year we completed the internet technophobes were typing and Environmental Impact Assessment which skyping away with help from local tutors consists of a number of studies, including Anne Campbell, Maureen Fraser and a bird survey. Our contractor Atmos Linda Macleod. The sessions were very Consulting held a public exhibition which Ben Mor Hydro Limited is a joint venture informal and friendly and feedback from presented the proposal to the whole owned 50% by CCDC and 50% by Scottish the participants was very positive. community; showing how the turbine Wildlife Trust (SWT). Current directors would look and operate. The feedback include Steve Husband and Peter Drake from this meeting was extremely from Coigach (pictured) and two positive. We have also conducted a trial directors from SWT. lorry run from Ullapool (where the turbine would arrive by sea) to the wind turbine site. The 50m meteorological mast has been up on the hill for over 18 months measuring wind speed and gathering data: so far, the results are very promising and indicate the chosen site at Achavraie is a good spot to make the most of the windy weather here. If you, or someone you know, missed out Horshader Community Wind Turbine this time but feel you could benefit from Meanwhile, the terms of the land a bit of help with any aspect of the agreement with the landowner Scottish As part of a recent study visit to Lewis we internet (shopping, booking holidays, Wildlife have been finalised and we now visited the crofting community of using online services, Facebook etc) then have a signed agreement which allows Horshade; now the proud owner of a please get in touch as we hope to run the community to erect and operate a wind turbine and looking forward to more sessions in the future. wind turbine. The next step is to apply investing in and improving local services.
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