Community projects to share more than £2.8 million in funding

A restored Victorian spa in the Highlands and a seaweed farm are among the projects to receive grants to become owned and run by their communities.

More than £2.8 million from the Scottish Land Fund has been awarded to 10 community projects.

The Government-funded Scottish Land Fund provides money and support to help communities acquire and develop local assets.

In the latest round of grants, £2,819,430 has been given to projects such as Strathpeffer Spa Pavilion, built in the 19th century at the site of a thermal spring near Dingwall, and land on the Isle of Mull, which will become a water sports and boat maintenance area.

A seaweed farm and processing centre will also benefit from one of the grants.

After receiving funding of £484,550, Fraser Mackenzie, chairman of the Strathpeffer Pavilion Community Trust, said: “This is a remarkable day for the pavilion.

“I’m sure the good news will not only be celebrated by the community of Strathpeffer but throughout the Highland and Island region that the pavilion has served for many years.

“The support from the Scottish Land Fund will ensure that these local assets are brought back into single ownership, to be owned and run by the local community in a co-ordinated and sustainable way that maximises benefit to the people that live, work and visit Strathpeffer and the surrounding rural communities.

“This will contribute to the potential for Strathpeffer to become a focus for learning, culture and heritage within Ross-shire and throughout the Highlands.”

Morven Gibson, general manager of South West Mull & Iona Development, said: “The award from Scottish Land Fund will bring the land at Bendoran, historically a working boatyard, into community ownership and will result in the development of shoreside facilities for a seaweed farm and space for a water sports centre.

“Both projects will create employment and training opportunities, and will provide a real boost to the economy of the Ross of Mull and Iona.”

Land Reform Minister Roseanna Cunningham said: “This funding will enable ordinary communities across Scotland to achieve extraordinary things.

“By taking ownership of these assets – which range from inns, mills and woodlands in rural areas to a social enterprise business hub in Nitshill, Glasgow – communities will open up opportunities for a whole range of projects and activities.

“My best wishes go to each of the groups, who have all worked hard to secure the Scottish Land Fund grants being awarded today.”

John Watt, Scottish Land Fund Committee chairman, said: “Breathing new life into redundant facilities and finding new purposes for historic sites are just some of the ways in which the Scottish Land Fund is helping to support local communities across Scotland and its benefits are being felt from some of the most remote parts of the country to densely-populated urban areas.”

Other projects to benefit from grants include Portree and Braes Community Trust to purchase former tennis and squash courts to turn into 80 car parking spaces; the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse Trust to develop its cafe and shop, the Barrhill Development Trust to buy the Trout Inn, and Friends of Glenan Wood to purchase 361 acres of woodland in the Trossachs.

Meanwhile, the Greater Pollok Enterprise Trust will use the cash to buy office space, the Peebles Community Trust will purchase the former ex-servicemen’s club, the Dornoch Area Community Interest Company will buy a police station for businesses to use, and a group will take over the Palnackie village shop and cafe.