<p> Portree Area Community Trust AGM Thursday 24th February 2011, 7.30pm, Portree Community Centre</p><p>Present: Ross Cowie, Neil Campbell, Julian Toms, Hugh MacDonald, Lisa Stephen, JF Walker, DSR Walker, Tim Bowditch, Roger MacDonald, Pam Simmister, Myra Urquhart, Norma Macleod, A Mackinnon, A Macdonald, G Gormal, BJ Ronald, Roger Liley, Ella Liley, George Burns, John Ellis, N Campbell, Morag Campbell, Jan Nicolson, Peter Urquhart, M Matheson, LV Kirkwood, John Gordon, Andrew Shaw, Anna Bethune, N Mackinnon, Irene Hepburn, Dolina Munro, Liza Hawthorne, Billy Macaskill, Catriona Leslie, Martin Leslie & Campbell Dickson.</p><p>Apologies: Ian Smart, Charlotte Johnson, Bill Johnson & Katie MacDonald</p><p>Approval of minutes of last AGM Approved Neil Campbell, seconded Lesley Kirkwood</p><p>Chairman’s report on the activities of the company Hugh MacDonald presented his annual report to the meeting. An interim report from the Trust’s directors was also presented (see attached).</p><p>Proposed alterations to Memorandum & Articles The following Alteration of Articles was proposed by Catriona Leslie: That subject to obtaining the consents required in article 72, that article of association 32.4 be suspended for five years. This is to ensure an adequate continuation of directors and that the necessary quorum of directors is elected at each AGM. </p><p>A counter-motion, that this amendment be deferred and the decision left to the new committee following further research, was proposed by Martin Leslie and seconded by Andrew Shaw. </p><p>Those present voted to support the counter-motion.</p><p>Accounts and Finances The annual accounts, approved by the Board, were approved by the membership.</p><p>Election of Directors and related business Of the ten directors (Hugh MacDonald, Katie MacDonald, Rob MacGregor, Lisa Stephen, Neil Campbell, Julian Toms, Catriona Leslie, William Macaskill, Ross Cowie & John Gordon), six must stand down (Hugh MacDonald, Rob MacGregor, Lisa Stephen, Neil Campbell, Julian Toms & Catriona Leslie). John Gordon, as a cop-opted director, must be elected.</p><p>The election of John Gordon and the remaining three eligible directors (Katie MacDonald, William Macaskill & Ross Cowie) was proposed by Julian Toms and seconded by Neil Campbell.</p><p>Seven nominations for new directors were received from: Campbell Dickson, Myra Urquhart, John Ellis, Malcolm Matheson, Donnie Nicolson, Catriona Maclean & Dolina Munro. Their election to the Board was proposed by Anna Bethune & seconded by Peter Urquhart. AOCB  The lapse between the Annual Accounts year end (May 2010) and the AGM was queried. It was agreed that the next AGM should coincide with the next financial year end (in this instance, new directors are inheriting 10 month old accounts).  The Trust’s new Chairman and other office bearers will be decided by the newly elected Board at their first meeting.  Anna Bethune, Chairman of Portree Community Centre Committee, confirmed that a Business Plan for the centre is being developed and that the committee is keen to hear any comments or suggestions from the community about the centre’s future use.  Highland Council have to issue 6 months notice of their intention to stop managing and insuring The Lump. The council did approach the Trust, with a view to the Trust taking over their management agreement. However, due to the public liability costs involved this was initially considered a liability – not an asset. A joint valuation of The Lump has now been carried out by Skye Gathering committee and Fearann Eilean Iarmain (Sir Iain Noble’s estate) – valuing the land at £8,200. The Trust would consider the management of the land, if the council would continue to indemnify the site. Jan Nicolson referred the meeting to Scorrybreac which has been maintained through self-funded contributions from overseas for the last 10 years since the end of a management agreement with the council. He estimated an annual management cost of £1500 (£1 million of public liability cover costs £220), proving that The Lump should not be too expensive to maintain. The Rotary Club have offered assistance with maintenance at The Lump. Martin Leslie suggested that Highland Council has failed to undertake several of its obligations under its management agreement. The terms of contract should be checked before any handover happens. Civic marriages at the tower were suggested as a possible source of income for The Lump. The Lump has two landowners and one tenant: the central arena and road belong to the Skye Gathering and are leased to the Skye Games Committee for £1 per annum. The remaining land belongs to Fearann Eilean Iarmain. All of the current landowners and the lessee have expressed willingness to work together and with the Trust. The issue of trees above houses at The Lump was raised – the insurance liabilities should be carefully considered. There was general support at the meeting for the Trust taking on the lease of The Lump.</p><p> Braes Community Council has now been amalgamated with Portree Community Council. The new Trust should consider widening its membership area, securing a greater pool of potential members and directors. It was noted that the new board should consider extending the Trust’s membership boundary to include Braes. </p><p> Non-members can be co-opted onto the Trust’s sub-groups. There was an appeal to members to help out with and publicise the Trust’s activities. Help is needed with admin / funding applications in particular. </p><p>Date of Next Meeting It was agreed that new and outgoing directors will meet on Tuesday 8th March at 6pm (venue to be confirmed). Portree Area Community Trust Chairman’s Annual Report Presented to the membership on the 24th February 2011</p><p>Our Community Trust has made significant changes and advances since our last AGM held on the 11th February 2010. We are in the early days of our Community Trust and your directors have worked hard on the membership’s behalf. Our membership remains as important as ever and we need more volunteers to help the directors realise the aspirations of our community. We passed a resolution at the last AGM to change our company’s name to more accurately reflect what we are a “Community Development Trust” and we are now formally constituted as the “Portree Area Community Trust”. This name change to the informal “Portree Community Trust” has without doubt made it much easier for the Directors to explain to the public at large what we are about and it has helped to make our Trust be perceived by the community of Portree as a more inclusive and open body. According to our memorandum and articles one third of our Directors must resign by rotation every year and no director may remain for a period of more than three years. This is going to cause us problems at this year’s AGM as it means that six of your original directors must stand down and are not eligible for re-election without a suspension of the company rules. The Directors are certain that change is a good thing but that for the purposes of continuity your new directors should look carefully at changing our memorandum and articles to allow for a longer term in office. It cannot be desirable that half of the directors are ineligible to stand again, all at one time, when current projects need to be seen through to a conclusion. In the year to 31st May 2010 your directors refined the focus of their attention and actively sought to reduce the number of projects the Trust were involved in so that we might direct our resources in a more targeted fashion. We concentrated on key areas: Community Land Ownership. Your directors feel that ownership of community land is a key element of community empowerment which is central to building a community spirit. To achieve this, the Trust has been in negotiation with Fearann Eilean Iarmain and the Highland Council The Portree Community Centre At last year’s AGM the directors were able to report the conclusion of a study undertaken by Macleod and Maccallum on the Community Centre and we formally elected three new directors who are themselves actively involved in the running of the Centre. A fourth community centre committee member was co-opted shortly after the AGM. The community centre is of vital importance to Portree and your Trust has continued to work towards a solution to its current problems. </p><p>The Harbour The Portree Waterfront Project is still a work in progress. The Project comprises plans for the regeneration of both the Harbour and Bayfield which are essential for the economic revitalisation of Portree centre. The Trust strategy is to establish a cooperative partnership with Highland Council, Crown Estates and HIE and to secure the involvement of both the private sector and the public sector as project funders. However given the current economic climate funding is likely to remain a problem for some time to come. A phased approach to the project is already included in the plans. The main obstacles to funding for Portree is that it is no longer a Ferry Port and therefore does not qualify for sources of funding available to other harbours which have a ferry service – for example, Lochboisedale or Mallaig. As part of that strategy the Trust has acquired written support from political parties and all harbour users. A new feasibility study brief has been prepared to address the larger project. It is hoped that with cooperation from Highland Council and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, funding can be identified for a full time project officer as it is now accepted that a project of this scale cannot be effectively progressed on a spare – time voluntary basis. Currently the Trust is awaiting a meeting with key members of Highland Council Economic Development. Community ownership of the harbour is also a possibility and the Trust will open a public debate to address this option. </p><p>Allotments The Trust has been offered land at the Home Farm for community use and your directors have been active in encouraging an allotments group.</p><p>As the outgoing Chairman of the Portree Community Trust I hope I have left something of value that the new directors will be able to build on. I have enjoyed my time as a director but it is time that I stepped down and I hope that my successor will be able to build on all of the work done by the directors who are retiring at this AGM. Lisa Stephen our secretary deserves especial thanks for the tireless work she has done for the Trust and the directors would have been lost without her organised guiding hand. Neil Campbell, Catriona Leslie, Julian Toms and Rob Macgregor have all served the Trust since its inception. They have all worked hard on its behalf and deserve my thanks for the help and support given to me personally, as well as for the efforts they have made on behalf of the membership. All of the out-going Directors will continue to work on behalf of the membership by either serving on Trust sub-committees or offering advice and support to the new directors. J. Hugh Macdonald 14th January 2011 Directors’ Interim Report (AGM 2011)</p><p>COMMUNITY CENTRE  Macleod and Maccallum’s report on the Community Centre recommended PACT should establish a trading subsidiary, as recommended by Douglas Graham. This action would remove the risk of personal liability that members of the current committee face.  The Community Centre committee has agreed to follow PACT’s proposal and all members have confirmed their commitment to the project.  Feareann Eilean Iarmain Estate acknowledge PACT’s interest in purchasing their assets at the Community Centre complex to include the KGV and are a willing seller. The Trust and FEI have obtained a valuation very recently and this will form the basis of further negotiation.  Partnership / cooperation between Trust and Community Centre committee ongoing.  DTA Scotland allocated 5 days support to develop a Business / Action Plan for the centre.  HIE have indicated that they can provide assistance with legal costs of transferring ownership of the community centre.  Meetings with HC and FEI ongoing.  Cllrs. John Laing and Hamish Fraser expressed willingness to work with the Trust and transfer ownership of the community centre to the Trust, providing that a Business Plan is produced.  At a meeting on the 10th January 2011 members of the Highland Council’s area committee agreed to the transfer of the footprint of the Community Centre to the trust and have appointed John Macdonald to take this further with the Trust </p><p>HARBOUR  Cllr. John Laing arranged meeting in Feb 2011 with key stakeholders to discuss project.  The group has now received letters of support for the project from almost all harbour users.  Prof. Ronald Macdonald is now a member of the sub-group and will be producing an economic appraisal of the project with his colleagues from the University of Strathclyde.  NC explained that the Harbour presentation which has been used to date provides an overview of a ‘masterplan’ which has 10 phased stages (including some elements which have been stipulated by Highland Council).  The group is currently seeking £30,000 towards a feasibility study. So far £5,000 has been awarded by The Crown Estate. </p><p>RENEWABLES  Donald Macsween has approached PACT about a possible partnership to develop a private windfarm on his estate at Drumuie. ALLOTMENTS  Lochalsh & Skye Housing Association funded a suitability study of the site at Home Farm for use as allotments. Forrest Ecological undertook the study which concluded that the site is suitable for the proposed use as allotments.  Negotiations about the handover of the land at Home Farm ongoing with LSHA  Funding has been secured for an exchange visits to find out about the new allotments at Cows Hill in Fort William and another project in Banchory.  Plans for the allotments have been drafted and the planning application started.  Dave Sands (Shell Global Solutions), has offered to help the group to prepare a development plan for the allotments and community woodland. A meeting to inform this is planned in March</p><p>FORESTRY  A note of interest in sale of Glen Varrigall forestry was submitted and a formal valuation undertaken (Trust met 50% of costs). The time scale for the community to be offered exclusive rights to the forestry has now passed but the community may still make a bid and may be considered as a preferred bidder. </p><p>DISPLAY BOARDS  Jan Laing was contacted about the lease for the information boards in the village. It has been agreed that Portree Community Trust will take over the ownership and management of the display boards in the village. </p><p> The current lease expires in May 2011. It is important to ensure that these boards contain relevant, up-to-date information for tourists.</p><p> Ross Cowie and Catriona Leslie met with Bob King re. the display boards. Bob King has arranged for the boards to be tidied up. BK will revert to us with proposals for improving the content e.g. adding B&Bs, Emergency Services info, etc. BK advised his company want to continue using the boards but they don’t want to pay. </p><p> It has been suggested to BK that a board be put up at the top of Quay Brae for the businesses down the pier. </p><p>OTHER ACTIVITIES  Campbell Grant at Sitekit thanked for upgrading the PACT website (www.portree.org) to allow content management. Now much easier to upload new info. This provided free of charge to Trust.  New logo </p><p> Community Day on 19th June a great success – attracting a good cross-section of the community and generating interest in the Trust. Almost 50 new members signed up to the Trust on the day and there were 48 signatures in support of the plans for the community centre. </p><p> Agricultural show. The Trust took a stand on the Show Field to promote its activities.</p><p> The Trust has a Facebook page </p><p> The Trust met with Donald Kennedy to discuss the Highland Core Path Implementation Project. Donald was keen to see an extension of River Lisigarry footpath along to the new housing development at Home Farm. The trust offered its support.</p><p> Ross Cowie, on behalf of Portree Community Trust, has entered into discussions with Highland Council about leasing all or part of the building at the end of the pier (occupied by Anchor Seafood’s, RNLI and the Harbour Master) which could then be renovated to accommodate toilets and shower facilities for tourists visiting Portree by sea. Improved store facilities, an information point, waiting room for ferry or seaplane passengers, viewing area and improved lifeboat facilities could also be incorporated. There is also the potential to include a maritime museum / information facility. Following some positive meetings with representatives of Highland Council (Cllr. John Laing, Chairman of the Transport, Environmental & Community Services Committee and Sam MacNaughton, Head of Transport and Infrastructure), Neil Campbell has kindly prepared some plans for the building which are currently being looked at in consultation with the building’s tenants and other harbour users. Catriona MacLean (former Economic Development Manager at Highland Council) is also assisting the Trust to identify funding for the project. </p><p> Trust helped to coordinate the switching on of the Christmas lights and associated activities. The Trust had £1,000 from the Ward Discretionary Budget ring-fenced for this project. </p><p>We will keep you informed as things progress and, as ever, welcome your views on these and any other Trust projects!</p>