The Cowal Way has an intern this summer, Catriona Phillips, who has been tasked with beginning the process of improving the long-distance walk. One of Catriona’s tasks has been to create a website for the Way, and this, in pretty short order she has done. Take a look here.
Category: Environment
Mark Chambers (Community Forest Project Officer) and Charles Dixon-Spain (Chair) attended the Community Land Scotland at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye the weekend of the 6th/7th June. Charles helped lead a workshop, under the chairmanship of Ian Hepburn, on Financing the Purchase of Community Forests, and Mark to the opportunity to network with fellow professionals in the community land-owning sector.
The event was highly successful with opportunities to chat with funders, policy-makers and fellow communities. Here’s the photo of all the delegates at the event.
For more information on Community Land Scotland, please click here.
Adaptation Scotland have just uploaded videos taken from their pilot “Are You Ready” scheme onto their website. You’ll see some familiar faces talking about what the project might mean to Colintraive and Glendaruel, and also the effect weather has on our community. This sort of feedback has led to further meetings, the formation of a focus group and potentially a very exciting CCF application.
To see the videos, click here
Mark Chambers, our Community Forest Officer has recently written to the community, so for those of you not on our mailing list, or just keeping an eye on how CGDT are going here’s what he says:
Hello,
My name is Mark and I have recently been appointed as the Community Forest Development Officer for the Stronafian Forest. I have immediately found this community to be very welcoming and proud of its heritage. The people I have met have been really friendly to my wife (Gill) and I. We feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to live amongst all of you, here in Colintraive and Glendaruel.
We have a grown-up family who live in Newcastle, and hope to visit often. My eldest daughter is currently at University, my other daughter works in a famous department store in Newcastle and my son is currently working for a charity in Bangladesh.
Firstly, for my sins, I am a Newcastle United supporter. I have a varied work history prior to my position here, including working as a soldier (Light Infantry and Royal Engineers), working as a prison officer (mainly long-term young offenders) and running several businesses, as well as community work, youth work management and ecology. I studied Countryside Management at Newcastle University and Community and Youth Work at Durham University. My hobbies used to include rugby, boxing and hunting with hawks, but now I prefer being stung as a beekeeper, wildlife as a whole, cycling and the occasional drink.
The population of Glendaruel and Colintraive is much dispersed and that is the main reason that I haven’t as yet been able to meet all of you. I grasped the opportunity to work with this community with both hands. I firmly believe that by working together we can make a difference to the future of this community, especially for the children and young people. I see my position as one which supports your ideas and relays this to the Development Trust. Some of you will have taken part in surveys in the past regarding the forest. These surveys were important to get us up and running. Now your participation is vital in this, the 2nd stage of the forest development, (stage 1 was the successful purchase).
As you are aware, there are similar community forests to ours and we are lucky enough to be able to emulate their best practice. We are unique in the fact that we now own a huge forest and that we will be leasing out the commercial timber production. The community will have access to all of the forest, apart from occasions when timber is being processed.
Previous community surveys show that you had some ideas of how we could use the forest. I have met with various groups and I am aware that other ideas have been suggested. This is a list of ideas that you had suggested (this list was taken from the Stronafian Forest Business Plan, available on CGDT website under publications):
- Several picnic sites connected by forest walks
- A forest style children’s playground
- A stocked fishing lake
- Strategically placed hides for bird/animal watching
- Bridleway for pony trekking and a ménage
- A nursery for native plants and trees
- Conservation of chambered cairn
- Forest burials
- Forest crofts
- Local food production
- Energy production (bio mass/hydro/wind/solar)
- Saw mill, providing wood, bark chippings etc
- Sustainable housing
- Quad biking
- Archery
- Stalking and clay pigeon shooting
- Astronomy centre
- Tennis courts
Your suggestions were made some time ago and, perhaps, you may have forgotten, not participated or changed your mind since then. Developing and maintaining services in the forest will come at a financial cost. Some costs cannot be transferred to users such as cyclists or walkers. The community will benefit through tourist participation in the Community Forest and this benefit will sustain employment and help to retain young people in the area, which in turn will retain and improve vital services such as the school, health care and bus services.
Community support will help to secure funding, which enables the Development Trust to commission a feasibility study into using our natural resources to deliver a reliable financial income to maintain services such as cycle paths and picnic areas. Finances would also be necessary to develop additional ideas. Renewable energy projects such as Community Hydro and/or Community Wind could provide this income. After an initial feasibility study of renewable energy sources, we would then be able to consult with you again with more information. We would seek guidance from Community Energy Scotland (CES) and I have provided 2 Case studies of community renewables for you to look at.
- http://www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk/assets/0000/6359/IGHT_20case_20study_202_1_.pdf
- http://www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk/assets/0001/0916/North_Harris_Trust_-_Hydro_Electric_Scheme_case_study.pdf
Woodland crofts are a relatively new concept, and in the near future community members will be invited to actively participate in helping to set the criteria and the subsequent selection of potential crofters for these woodland crofts. These woodland crofts are amazing opportunities for those with a love of forest management and sustainable living and can offer housing and business opportunities. You can find more information on this website, www.woodlandcrofts.org.
We have the advantage of being able to obtain wood from the commercial forest tenant and process this into wood-fuel that can be made available to the community and possibly to supply a wider market.
The following questions will help the Trust to gain an understanding of your forest use and what you see as important areas/items to be developed in the Community Forest. I will be available to discuss any of these areas with you, either in person, by telephone or by email. Thanks for your time and please take time to complete the very brief 3-minute questionnaire. Your ideas and input will help to formulate the Development Trust’s Master Plan.
- To take part in the survey click here
We have a planned celebration day on July 13th which will include some family activities, food and in the evening we are holding a Ceilidh. The day and evening’s activities will be free. There will be a raffle and any money raised will go to the Kilmodan primary school. Bar profits will be shared between the Colglen shinty club and Kilmodan School. More information will be displayed and any raffle prizes will be gratefully received on the day or night of the 13th or to the office in the Colintraive hall.
Last weekend an intrepid pair of Glendaruels ventured up to the chambered cairn – we thought you might like to see the photos:
Last night Sara held the second of our Are You Ready? meetings. This was follow-up to the session in Edinburgh which Charles and Sara attended and was designed to develop our ideas into a more concrete format. Everyone enjoyed the session, as well as the tea and cake afterwards. We even got our new Community Forest Project Officer along too, Mark — here’s a photo of the group.
The other thing to notice is the refurbished Colintraive Village hall. Warmer, more efficient and much better acoustics mean it is truly a delight to meet there.
Yesterday (27th February 2013) CGDT was invited by the Forestry Commission to make a presentation on our acquisition of Stronafian Forest at their quarterly “Wood of Our Own Event”.
Colintraive and Glendaruel Development Trust (CGDT) have purchased Stronafian Forest and are now recruiting for a dynamic Community Forest Development Officer.
CGDT are delighted to confirm that they have now purchased Stronafian Forest on the Cowal Peninsula, Argyll. The forest, purchased for £1.55M from the Forestry Commission under the National Forest Land Scheme, will provide the community of Colintraive and Glendaruel with opportunities to create sustainable housing, woodland crofts, renewable energy sources and wonderful amenity spaces.
The Trust has been working since early 2010 on the acquisition of the 600ha+ woodland, developing a thorough-going business plan, as well as working on the funding package which includes £1.3M from a commercial tenant for the rights to the commercial forestry over 99 years. Alongside this tranche of money, raised from the private sector, the trust has also raised over £300,000, both for the balance of the purchase price, but also the legal fees and a two year Community Forest Project Officer post. The trust believe this is the first purchase of its kind to combine private and public sectors in a community woodland acquisition.
Come Work With Us
The Trust are still recruiting for the post which offers an exciting blend of community engagement, project management and business development in a forest context. The Community Forest Project Officer will be tasked with taking forward a community wind turbine, developing 4-6ha woodland crofts and preparing building plots for self-build and affordable homes, as well as making the forest accessible to the local community and its visitors. This is an opportunity to work with one of the West Coast’s most innovative trusts, in an environment of outstanding natural beauty, with a community whose Hogmanays are reputed to be the best in Argyll. To apply download our application form here.
CGDT’s chair, Charles Dixon-Spain said, “We are thrilled with this acquisition which is confirmation of the momentum our community has been building over the last five years. Colintraive and Glendaruel is a community that has been in decline for many years, and the Trust feels this purchase signals the renewing of our community, of bringing people in and services back and of ensuring the future of those services that we have held onto. Thanks to everyone who has helped us get to this stage!”
CGDT wish to thank Forestry Commission Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Argyll and the Islands LEADER, the Scottish Land Fund, the Big Fund, Aitchesse Ltd. and our tenant for all their help, financial support and encouragement over the last three years.
Alan Caldwell brought the Are You Ready? project to Colintraive Village Hall this evening. With 17 residents, Sara led an interesting and lively session looking at how we can be ready for the increasingly turbulent weather that climate change is likely to bring. The group established the outline of an action plan which the DT was tasked with taking forward. The next step is to attend a follow-up session in Edinburgh and find out how and when we might implement things. For more on this, click here.
For those of you keeping an eye on our developing plans for Stronafian, we have just published the updated Business Plan on our publications page.