Category: News

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Forestry News Press & Publicity Stronafian

We Can See The Wood For the Trees!

The Community of Colintraive and Glendaruel wins the right to buy Stronafian Forest in south-west Cowal.

Community ownership of one of the most ambitious community buy-outs came a step further this week when the Forestry Commission granted the right to buy 600ha of Stronafian Forest in south west Cowal through the National Forestry Land Scheme.

The £1.55m price tag is a tall order for the small community of Colintraive and Glendaruel but ownership of the land is seen as the catalyst in reversing the area’s economic and social decline.   Plans for developing the forest include leasing small parcels of land at sustainable rents to allow small, low-impact silviculture operations to be encouraged, alongside other entrepreneurial pursuits suited to a woodland situation and developing community.

Proximity to the school offers opportunities to develop an outdoor classroom or forest school, a development of the existing curriculum which is proving increasingly popular elsewhere as an educational  resource.  Indeed areas of the forest, particularly those close to the Clachan of Glendaruel, are rich in archaeological remains, natural history and landscape heritage which will add to the significant amenity resource that the woodland represents.

Charles Dixon-Spain, Chair of the Development Trust said “The scope of the Forest is enormous and our ambitious plans include investigation of wind and hydro sites, the most promising involving creation of a community owned 30 MW/h extension to the Cruach Mhor windfarm.   With national renewable targets to reach and our commitment to help achieve these, there is much to accomplish in the 18 months in which we have to raise the finance”.

“The price tag may appear daunting,” Charles continues, “but we are confident development of our plans alongside our forestry consultant and potential funding agencies will secure this tremendous asset for the long term benefit of not only Colintraive and Glendaruel but for our neighbouring communities.”

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News Projects

CGDT AGM Sunday, 12th June

Our AGM begins at 2.30pm, with all the usual accoutrements to a development trust reporting back to its members. We’ll also be presenting our new local development plan and an extraordinary opportunity that we have been working on since August 2009. For more information on both, and to read the pertinent documents, please return to this site after the AGM.

For members who wish to attend, please contact us in the usual way for papers, documents and agendas etc.

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Colintraive News

Of Pontoons, Property, Power and Paths … and also of Parking

On Wednesday night the Development Trust held an evening consultation to discuss the four ‘P’s mentioned in the title of this post.

Over thirty members of the community attended to discuss issues surrounding the idea of a Community Pontoon, ownership of the Colintraive Old Shop, Hydro Electric power in the Milton Burn and Environmental Improvements around Colintraive, including a circular path taking in the beach, Colintraive Heritage Centre, Garden and Hotel. An issue which was raised throughout the meeting was the parking and traffic problems which surround the CalMac ferry, and so this was added to the agenda on the night to allow us to explore every aspect of what has become a knotty problem.

If, having read these minutes, you have any comments, please use the comment form at the bottom of this page. Of course if we have missed a substantive point made on the night let us know, as the more info we have the better. These minutes will be posted on the noticeboards in Colintraive and Glendaruel.

The Board will discuss the comments and ideas put forward at this meeting and report back at the AGM in mid-June on how we have progressed each of these issues.

We’d like to thank everyone who attended on the night, the feedback you all gave was invaluable and will have a substantial influence on how we move forward.

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Forestry Glendaruel News Stronafian

Progress on the Application to Acquire the Right to Buy Stronafian

At the last NFLS panel meeting in late January, at which the decision on our application was to be taken, important questions were raised regarding the timescales of the purchase and how that would affect our business plan for the forest, in particular our management of the forest itself. The panel therefore decided to defer their decision until 5th May to allow us to look at the implications of this.

The Development Trust has now fed back regarding the changes it has made to its business plan to effect purchase of the entire forest within 18 months of the approval of our application.

We will communicate the panel’s decision as soon as we have news but in the meantime will keep our fingers crossed.

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CRtB Glendaruel Glendaruel Hotel News Opportunities

CGDT is Granted Community Right to Buy on Glendaruel Hotel

The Colintraive and Glendaruel Development Trust is delighted to announce it has been granted a community right to buy on the Glendaruel Hotel under the terms of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. The hotel which stands at the centre of the clachan of Glendaruel has been closed for 18 months depriving the community of an essential social hub and local accommodation providers of a venue for their guests to find food and drink locally.

In June 2009 when it first considered applying for the right to buy on the property the trust undertook to give the present owners of the hotel breathing space to get their business up and running. Twelve months later the Trust recognised that this was becoming more and more unlikely to happen, and that the community needed the opportunity to take charge of the building and provide for its own future. At a public meeting on 3rd August last year a working group was formed to look at the options for running the building as a social enterprise and to work toward the Community Right to Buy.

The right to buy, which gives the community first refusal when and if the hotel comes on to the market, also requires that a ballot be held to ascertain the community’s opinion of such a course of action. As Charles Dixon-Spain, chair of the Development Trust says, “With the help of the working group who have put substantial time into this project, and our HIE-funded consultant Tom Sillar, we have secured the community the opportunity to decide whether it wants the trust to run the building as a social enterprise.”

Full details of the application for the right to buy are available on the Register of Community Interests in Land.

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Forestry Glendaruel News Projects Stronafian

Next Stage in the Acquisition of Stronafian

Today myself and John McEwan met with Penny Cousins, the panel member for the NFLS, Malcolm Wield and Gordon Donaldson, as part of the process towards a determination on whether the right to buy Stronafian Forest should be granted to the Development Trust.

After a talking through the business plan and the full development programme the Development Trust is putting together, we walked around parts of the forest before repairing to the Colintraive Hotel for a Seafood Chowder lunch (which was delicious!).

The NFLS panel will consider our application on the 20th January, and a decision will be made by Forestry Commission Scotland’s Director, Bob McIntosh shortly thereafter. Fingers crossed.

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Clachan Glendaruel Kilmodan Primary School News

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a really great New Year, and here’s hoping that today’s news on the halting of the schools consultation means that Argyll and Bute Council drop all plans to close Kilmodan.

The Development Trust is convinced of the absolutely crucial importance the school plays in ensuring our community grows and thrives.

Well done to the Parent Council for all the effort they have put into the Save Kilmodan School campaign!

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News Opportunities

Opportunity for small businesses

This summer Argyll and Bute Council launched its Competitive Business Growth Programme, providing

  • start-up grants of £500
  • growth grants of up to £3000 – for existing businesses that are trading over the VAT threshold, or new businesses who are planning to be within 18 months.

Eligible Argyll and Bute based businesses in postcodes PA20- PA78 or in Succoth can apply for Competitive Business Growth Programme funding up until the end of March 2011, via Business Gateway.

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Colintraive CRtB Glendaruel Glendaruel Hotel News Projects Working Groups

Hotel Working Group & CGDT issues info-flyer on CRtB

The following flyer will be distributed to everyone in the community over the next week, so that all have the facts about the Community Right to Buy process and legislation. In addtion to this, the CRtB on the Glendaruel Hotel will be discussed at the next Community Council meeting at Colintraive Village Hall, on 2nd December at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome to come and ask questions and hear the discussion about this project.

Please click on the image to open a more readable version!

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Kilmodan Primary School News

Parent Council issues Communication Plan: Let’s Get Writing!

The communication plan is a comprehensive guide as to how the community can help save Kilmodan School, primarily by writing letters. If you feel inspired to do so, and we believe everyone should be (especially if you saw the recent “From Here to There” video), please make sure that you copy in the Parent Council to any letter or email you send.

Let’s get writing!