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Clachan Glendaruel News Opportunities Projects Working Groups

Of Hubs, Hydro and Ships-to-Shore

A quick digest on some of the projects which we are working on at the moment:

  • The group looking at the Clachan pavilion or hub on the eastern end of the shinty pitch have recently received from the architect the building brief which resulted from a meeting between him and the ‘Hub Group’. Once this has been approved schematics will be produced, and then we’ll get a visual as to how this building might look and work.
  • We’re moving forward with the recommendations made to us by the Ship-to-shore group and Rhona has made contact with various stakeholders.
  • We’re also looking at micro-hydro schemes in Colintraive and Glendaruel and have identified with Community Energy Scotland 8 possible watercourses where this might happen. Once a desktop assessment has been made we’ll be contacting the landowners associated with the water courses to discuss possibilities.
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Colintraive Glendaruel Opportunities Working Groups

Calling all Interested Parties!

Are you involved in the tourist industry in Colintraive and Glandaruel?

Russell, working for the CGDT for two months on a government funded placement, wants to hear from you!

I’m looking to organise a focus group of anyone whose business interests are related to tourism.  The group will try to collate your opinions and the day-to-day feedback you get from visitors to help the tourist industry in Colintraive and Glendaruel identify what can be done to improve and expand the facilities and attractions for visitors in a way that is sensitive to local concerns.

The results of the focus group will be invaluable in informing the long-term goals of the Development Trust as it progresses with present and future projects.

The meeting will be held at 7pm on Wednesday the 14th of September at Glendaruel Village Hall.  If you intend to attend please contact me at russell.p.gill@googlemail.com or on 01369 820344.  I hope as many of you can make it as possible.  If you are unable to make this date but have ideas you want to share with the group please let me know and we’ll arrange an alternative time to meet up and have a chat.

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Colintraive News Opportunities Press & Publicity Working Groups

CGDT Stall at the Colintraive Village Fete a Great Success!

If you were down at the Colintraive village fete on Saturday, and if you had a chance between the duck racing, wellie wanging, rat splatting, cake buying, ice cream licking and Scottish dancing, you might have seen Sandra and Russell cajoling people into the CDGT tent.  We were asking for people’s ideas, thoughts, comments and opinions on the various on-going projects on that the Trust is overseeing.  Represented were; the plan to revive the old post-office, the planned circular walk in Colintraive, the Ship-to-Shore project and the Stronafian Forest Project.

We hope that everyone who came and saw us left a little more enlightened as to what the Trust is up to on their behalf and a little more involved having left an idea or comment for us to consider.

Regarding the forest people were generally interested to see exactly where the forest boundaries were and to hear how the nitty-gritty of the acquisition and purchase process are progressing.  Several people commented about the great views over Loch Riddon that you can get from the top of the forest road that goes from the telephone exchange on the Dunoon road.  There was some interest in the possibility of the creation of forest small holdings and also in establishing a commercial wood-fuel operation as they have done at Kilfinan.  By far the most common topic of conversation about the forest was the possibility of developing mountain biking trails.  Suggestions ranged from simple way-marked trails to the development of a full blown centre complete with graded trails, bike hire, guiding, bike repair shop and cafes. See these links to see what has been developed in other forests along these lines http://www.7stanesmountainbiking.com/Home and http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-79YFHN.  Other ideas included creating nature trails, a sculpture trail, tree-top assault course a shooting ground and a concrete bobsleigh run through the forest!

The possibility of reviving the village shop was met with universal enthusiasm!  Some people didn’t care what happened to it as long as it was given a lick of paint.  A frequent comment was that a shop or café of some sort would do a roaring trade off people waiting for the ferry with one person even suggesting going onto coaches with a tray of snacks and drinks like they used to do at the cinema!  Those who came straight from the home baking stand were naturally in favour of having somewhere to get cakes of such high quality all year round and wanted to see a tea room or coffee shop (with home baking).  Younger folk thought an internet café would be great idea, anything to make contact with the outside world given how bad mobile reception is.  The shop has a flat on the first floor and some people suggested converting this into ‘bunk house’ style accommodation for cyclists and people doing the Cowal Way looking to over-night somewhere cheap and cheerful.  Rhona is busy as we speak trying to secure funding so that the building can be surveyed before any decision is made on whether to buy.

The ship-to-shore project displayed various options discussed at a meeting earlier in the week including the controversial pontoon proposal, reviving the concrete jetty and using the slipway on the CalMac road as a launch for dinghies and kayaks.  This is going to be a difficult one to negotiate as many people thought that yachties would only come ashore if there was the option of coming alongside in their yachts whilst the topography of the bay makes this difficult without building a quite intrusive structure.

We encourage to leave your comments and ideas on the projects discussed above – this is an on-going process and your opinion counts at every stage!

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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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CRtB Glendaruel Glendaruel Hotel News Working Groups

Community Right to Buy: Some Facts

Here is a summary of the pertinent facts relating to Community Rights to Buy:

  • A community right to buy gives the community the time to decide whether to purchase an asset at market value.
  • The community right to buy does not force the sale, but only comes into play when an owner decides to sell his or her property.
  • A right to buy petition does not commit the community to the purchase: it only seeks to establish the right to buy. 10% of the community must support the application for it to be valid.
  • The property is valued by a government appointed surveyor, who is entirely independent, and values property at market rates. This guarantees the owner gets a fair price.
  • If the community body decides to activate its right to buy it must carry out a ballot of the community to establish whether the majority of the community wish to go ahead with the purchase.
  • Like the Stronafian Forest vote, only those on the electoral roll are eligible to vote, and 50% of the eligible voters must vote to make the ballot valid. Of that 50% over 50% have to vote in favour for the purchase to go ahead.
  • Even if the ministers grant the community a right to buy on a property the community may decide it is not in its interest to activate that right, and can simply allow the sale of the property to go ahead normally with another party.
  • Often, once a right to buy is established the community and the property owner arrange the sale between themselves without resort to the legislation. This can make the process much shorter.
  • The Community Right to Buy itself lasts for 5 years. If after that period the property hasn’t been put on the market, the community can reapply to have the right extended for a further 5 years. The trust might also decide to let the right lapse and not reapply.

At present the Development Trust is awaiting the minister’s determination on our application to acquire the right to buy on the Glendaruel Hotel. If we are granted a right to buy, and if we decide to move onto the next stage, there will be a thorough and transparent consultation process.

If you have any questions, or are unclear on any points, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we’ll be delighted to hear from you.

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Clachan CRtB Glendaruel Hotel News Projects Working Groups

CRtB Application on the Glendaruel Hotel Sent In

A red letter day for the communities of Colintraive and Glendaruel: the application for the Community Right to Buy on the Glendaruel Hotel has been sent in to the Community Assets Branch in Edinburgh. This should be received on Monday (weather permitting) and the process of informing the owners of the application will begin.

This is the first step in a long process to acquisition, and if all goes well with this stage, the working group’s next task will be to sketch out the basis for the business plan. No small task of course, but if the enthusiasm, good will and expertise which was brought to bear on the application is applied to this document, then there is no doubt that what is presented to the community for its consideration will be thorough-going and compelling.

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Clachan News Projects Working Groups

The Working Groups are off!

Just a quick note to report that two working groups were formed on the 4th in Glendaruel, one to look specifically at the Hotel, and the other at a community hub or Pavilion.

As I write the Hotel group have begun collecting signatures for a petition under the Community Right to Buy legislation in order to acquire the right to buy the property. Members of the working group and the development trust board will be visiting as many folk as they can to offer the opportunity to sign the petition.

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News Projects Working Groups

Colintraive Working Group

Tonight in the Colintraive Village Hall members of the community are invited to attend an initial meeting to investigate the possibility of creating a working group to look at the future of the village, and in particular its role as a community centre.

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Forestry News Stronafian Working Groups

Would you like to be an Animateur?

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News Working Groups

Glendaruel Working Group

Tonight in the Glendaruel Village Hall members of the community are invited to attend an initial meeting to investigate the possibility of creating a working group to look at the future of the clachan, and in particular its role as a community centre.