Another Chance For Communities To Buy Land And Property
23rd June 2013
Additional Funding announced for Communities to buy land and properties to help regenerate their local areas.
Community groups across Scotland are being urged to explore the opportunities available through the recently-expanded Scottish Land Fund.
Funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and The BIG Lottery Fund Scotland, the Scottish Land Fund has already provided support for communities to buy a range of local assets to help regenerate the fortunes of their area.
The First Minister, Alex Salmond, recently announced that the Fund is to be extended for a further year to 2016 and boosted with an extra �3m investment by the Scottish Government.
HIE helps applicants develop their projects for funding across the whole of Scotland.
Helen Macdougall of HIE said: �The recent announcement by the First Minister is very exciting news for all those communities who want to get involved in owning and managing land and property in their area. It is recognition of the range of benefits that can be brought to an area, once assets, as diverse as whole estates or small development sites, are brought into community ownership.
�The Fund was launched in 2012 and has helped communities buy assets ranging in size from less than half a hectare to 615 hectares. We have some really interesting projects coming forward, with a huge breadth of options and opportunities for development. With the Fund now extended there are far more opportunities for us to support other communities who have exciting plans for their areas.�
Earlier this year, Covesea Lighthouse Community Company achieved their dream of community ownership for Covesea Lighthouse, its two keepers' cottages and surrounding land, thanks to the Scottish Land Fund. The grant of �301,500 means they will develop a tourism hub to promote local heritage, the area�s unique wildlife and environment and its links to the nearby airbase. The lighthouse�s location on the Moray Firth Coast has been voted one of the most breathtaking coasts in the world in a National Geographic Traveller magazine survey and community ownership presents an excellent opportunity for the project to boost the number of visitors to the area which in turn will help the local economy.
Franziska Smith of the Covesea Lighthouse Community Company Ltd said: �We found working with the Scottish Land Fund really straightforward. The application process was quick and relatively easy, and the support from the HIE Land Fund Advisor was very helpful when we were developing our ideas and plans for the Lighthouse and Keepers Cottages. Now we own the site the whole community are really keen to see something happen and bring jobs and visitors back to our area.�
Funded by the Scottish Government and delivered in partnership with HIE and the The BIG Lottery Fund Scotland, the Scottish Land Fund can provide up to 95 percent of the costs of purchasing land and land assets, as well as project revenue funding for up to two years.
All enquiries for the Scottish Land Fund should be addressed in the first instance to the Big Lottery via their Advice Line number on 0300 123 7110.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
A project to recycle waste at an aquaculture hatchery in Wester Ross has secured up to £630,290 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Bakkafrost Scotland limited is leading the project, which has a total investment value of more than £2.5m.
Wick Business Park has welcomed wind energy technology company ENERCON as the first occupant of one of four new units completed last year. ENERCON specialises in designing, producing, installing and servicing onshore wind turbines and has been operating in the Caithness area since 2013.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has appointed new members to its Caithness and Sutherland team as the agency settles into its new premises and works to expand its client portfolio. Claire Wilson has joined as head of business growth and investment.
Businesses in the Highlands and Islands are invited to apply to the 2025/26 Scottish Rural Leadership Programme. The initiative is designed to empower rural business owners and senior leaders across Scotland with the skills, confidence and strategic insight needed to drive innovation and growth in their communities.
The Scottish Government has begun recruitment to appoint a new Chair for the Board of development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Applications are currently being invited through the government's public appointments website with a closing date of 7 July 2025.
Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, has officially opened Aurora's pioneering Renewable Energy Training Centre in Inverness - the only facility of its kind serving the Highlands. The £1.2m training centre has already demonstrated its importance to Scotland's net-zero ambitions, training to more than 1,000 people in its first year and gearing up to train more than 2,000 workers annually who will be central to the country's renewable energy future.
A multi-million pound investment is being made in one of Scotland's most strategically important ports. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will invest up to £24 million at Kishorn Port in the west Highlands to enhance its capacity and capabilities, with an expanded dry dock and land reclamation enabling the manufacture of floating offshore wind foundations.
A commercial diver training company in Argyll is exploring the potential to expand the business to include closed bell diver training. Dunoon based Professional Diving Academy (PDA) has secured £5,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to help cover associated market assessment consultancy costs.
The new, state-of-the-art Technology and Innovation Centre at UHI North, West and Hebrides' Stornoway campus officially opened following a £2.3m investment. It is the first capital project to be delivered under the Islands Growth Deal, a ten-year package that seeks to drive economic growth and the creation of sustainable jobs across Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is looking to contract a specialist operating company to run a new multi-million-pound innovation centre under development in Moray to support manufacturing. The three-year contract will involve developing and managing the service offering of the new Manufacturing Innovation Centre Moray (MICM), as well as stakeholder engagement, marketing and promotion of the facility.