Groups In Thrumster And Wick Get Closer to Taking Over Land and Property from Highland Council

30th May 2023

At the meeting of the Caithness Area Committee of Highland council on 29 May 2023 it was agreed to transfer assets at cost of £1 each to two groups.

Development in Caithness is no longer totally being left to the cash strapped Highland council as two groups show what potentially can be done on their own. The latest two groups add to a growing list of community groups getting things done in the county.

St Fergus Bowling Club
The sale of the Garages and Land at Loch Street, Wick for £1 To St Fergus Bowling Club on the terms set out in the report.

The Council would forego a potential receipt to the HRA of £20,000 or a loss of rental income of £1,600 per annum.

The St Fergus Bowling Club has requested ownership of the Loch Street Garages. The Club's proposal is to demolish the garages and construct an indoor bowling facility for members of the club and wider community to use. The Club has been in existence for 125 years and has strong ties to the local and wider community. It was set up to promote bowling in the Wick and Caithness community. The Club have a strong background in fundraising and a strong membership with a wide range of skills and expertise.

The Loch Street garages are held on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the site is valued at £20,000. The garages are in poor condition, the land is currently underutilised and fly tipping has become a problem in the area. Prior to the CAT being received, there had been plans to demolish the garages and replace this with parking.

The Club proposes to use this site to deliver a short bowling green which will be
available all year round to club members delivering an enhanced range of activities including short carpet bowling, darts, exercise classes, social gatherings, dance classes which currently are not available. This improved service including new activities will support the delivery of additional health and wellbeing benefits to the club members. The facility will also be made available to local school children with special needs from Wick High School as a quiet space. Council housing tenants will also be offered discounted membership to compensate for the loss of this asset. The club currently have an outdoor bowling green but this facility would enable them to operate all year round and offer the wider community benefits outlined above.

St Fergus Bowling club has over 125 years' experience in running a successful club and has good capacity within its membership. The Club states it always operates within its financial limits and with a surplus of funds. It does not borrow to finance its operations. It has developed its clubhouse numerous times over the years including the build, then extension of the clubhouse, erecting floodlights. The club is managed by dedicated members, including some with experience of project management, architecture building, electrical installation, plumbing, supervising works and finance.

The total cost of the proposed project is anticipated to be £200,000. This includes legal and planning costs. The club has demonstrated previous fundraising experience - for example, to support previous clubhouse projects. Fundraising is at an early stage for this project but they have approached various wind farms for financial support and initial feedback has been positive with a contributions of £150,000 anticipated. Club members will also provide an in-kind contribution of £25,000 towards the alteration and demolition cost of the project. The Club will undertake fundraising activities aiming to raise £10,000 and they will seek additional sponsorship from local businesses.

Thrumster Community Development Company
The sale of Land / park located opposite Thrumster Primary School for £1, to Thrumster Community Development Company on the terms set out in the report.

Transfer of the land opposite Thrumster Primary School would result in the loss of an asset with an estimated market value of £38,000. As outlined in the report, given the nature of the asset, this is currently unused grassland and there are no current plans for development and future use is likely to be limited.

Thrumster Community Development Company have requested transfer of 5 acres of land comprising Thrumster Playpark, Tennis court and vacant marshland to the east and north located opposite Thrumster Primary School. The group plan to build a new, energy efficient hall which would act as a community hub, cafe and tourist information point. They plan to upgrade the existing play park and tennis court and improve the general amenity by planting trees and establishing a wildlife trail in the eastern area (‘the Whins'). The land is currently largely unused grassland and there are no current plans for its use or development and any future use would be limited.

There are several key aspects to community benefit that would result from the proposed asset transfer:
• Improved amenity for residents of Thrumster and wider area (play park, tennis courts)
• Prospect of upgraded community facilities which are more energy efficient
• Potential revenue generation for the Community Company from the operation of the cafe which can be used for reinvestment and ensuring sustainability of community assets / local community development

This is a relatively new group, formed in 2019 and incorporated as 2-tier SCIO in 2021. The group have over 50 members, with significant volunteer support. The group has had previous success with fundraising for local grounds maintenance. It already cuts grass at the north of the park and maintains village green area on behalf of HC Amenities, as well as other areas of land which do not receive upkeep by Amenities.
The group have a clear understanding of project planning and requirements for support from professional services and amongst their directors they have a range of skills/experience around governance, project planning and capital projects.

The group have an offer of an SSE Beatrice Fund award of £50k for architectural design and other professional support conditional on approval of a CAT. This award will also support business planning for development and operation of the community hub The current grant offer notes that costs must be incurred no later than end of July 2023 and the groups is in the process of agreeing an extension with the funder. Due to the preliminary stage of project planning, exact capital costs of development remain to be determined. In terms of ongoing costs, the group's aspiration is for the facility to be self-sustaining.

Transfer of this land will result in a minor revenue saving to Highland Council Amenities Service (limited grass cutting) and the removal of responsibility for playpark maintenance and prospective improvement.

Chair of the Committee, Councillor Ron Gunn wishes both community groups well with their plans. He said: "The St Fergus Bowling Club has a track record of fund raising and delivering development projects so I am sure their plans to create a new indoor bowling facility will progress well. I am particularly pleased that the wider community will be able to benefit from having this new year-round bowling facility.

“As for the ambitious plans of the Thrumster Community Development Company, having a new energy efficient hall that will act as a community hub is going to be a huge asset to the local community and to all the visitors to the area. There is a lot of work to do so I wish the group every success as they now press on with their plans."

Read the full council paper HERE

The discussion on the web cast is ear the end at 1:56.

Caithness is a place where communities have always taken action and in the past few years more and more groups have come forward to fill gaps being left official bodies. There now exists development trusts in Thurso, Wick, Keiss and John O'Groats with a few local villages having moved forward plans for their own areas in recent years. Things may be hard for cash strapped councils but local people are not sitting still moaning (well they might be moaning but they are taking action) about the situation but taking control of more and more thing for themselves showing the indomitable spirit that has always been a feature of the most northerly land based county.