Tag: Community Right to Buy

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Forestry News Projects Stronafian

Proposed Land Use Areas



The board met on Monday 22nd August to populate a map of Stronafian with initial proposals for where certain activities could be located in the forest.  This will be passed onto our forest consultant for his comments.

Proposed land use areas
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You can view a Google Map of the above areas here

The board felt the amenity area should be close to the Clachan since this would form a base for people to go into the forest from. The Forest School would also be located in this area.  It was decided some investigation would be required to provide access directly from the hotel to the forest.  Paths to an area higher up where there is little forest cover would provide an area for views, picnic sites and possibly an area for stargazing.

The areas for silviculture were chosen based on selecting areas close to existing access routes and with relatively level topography.  Activities here might involve commercial wood fuel production as well as the possibility of forest smallholdings for low impact silviculture.

It was felt the only suitable location for affordable housing on forest land was in Stronafian since this was relatively level ground, on a road and near existing housing.

We welcome your feedback on proposals below!

Categories
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.

Categories
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!

Categories
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.

Categories
Clachan CRtB Glendaruel Glendaruel Hotel News

Application to register an interest in Hotel passes first stage

The Development Trust received notification today that our application to acquire a right to buy on the Glendaruel Hotel has been accepted by the Scottish Ministers, and that copies of the application have been sent to the present owners. A prohibition on the sale of the property is now in place.

We will now await the response of the owners, and thereafter the determination of the Minister.

Categories
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.

Categories
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.