Successful CATS bid for Sunart Community Company

Sunart Community Company (SCC) has purchased the 88 hectare Longrigg Wood, Strontian, for community use.

The woodland sits up on the western edge of the community, with views towards Loch Sunart, a popular destination for wildlife-watching and itself a Marine Protected Area.

The buy-out, which was supported with SLF funding, is another success for Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) Community Asset Transfer Scheme, which SCC first engaged with back in 2018, when FLS offered the community first refusal after having identified the woodland for disposal.

Despite the community led consultations and feasibility studies being interrupted by COVID19, the potential opportunities offered by the woodland - including skills development, recreation and income generation – resulted in a CATS application.

Sunart Community Company Director, Andrew Hughes, said;

“Ours is a very strong-knit community but like many other rural populations, developing and strengthening that cohesion is vitally important especially for our young people.

“We have a vision of ‘Keeping Sunart a great place to live, work and visit’ and we saw how Longrigg Wood, which sits on the edge of the village alongside the crofting township of Ardnastaing, could make a real contribution to helping us achieve that.

“It’s been a long journey to get to this point but we can now set about bringing all of our aspirations and plans to life.

“The community has really come together around this project and I would recommend other communities around the country to take a closer look at the Community Asset Transfer Scheme and the potential on their own doorsteps.”

SCC plans to use income from timber and firewood production to underpin initial work, such as creating access into the woodland, while it develops volunteering and community projects, as well as access and recreation opportunities.

The group will also begin laying the foundations for partnerships with local community groups and with Ardnamurchan High School. As well as delivering health and wellbeing benefits, turning the woodland into an educational and training resource will boost pupils’ skills and personal development and open their eyes to career opportunities that they can pursue without having to leave the community.

Other plans include carrying out some long-term restructuring to slowly restore Longrigg to native woodland, and exploring the potential for the development of woodland crofts and eco-housing to address a severe housing crisis in the village.

Rural Affairs Secretary, Mairi Gougeon, said;

“The Sunart community is just one of the 31 that have taken advantage of FLS’ asset transfer process to take more control of shaping their future and seize the transformational opportunities that this offers them.

“I hope that the SCC example will inspire other people to consider what they can do locally to make better use of Scotland’s national forests and land for the benefit their own community.” 

Notes to Editor

1. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) manages forests and land owned by Scottish Ministers in a way that supports and enables economically sustainable forestry; conserves and enhances the environment; delivers benefits for people and nature; and supports Scottish Ministers in their stewardship of Scotland's national forests and land.
2. Home - Forestry and Land Scotland| twitter.com/ForestryLS 
3. Media enquiries to Paul Munro, Senior Media Manager, Forestry and Land Scotland Media Office 07785 527590 or paul.munro@forestryandland.gov.scot
4. SCC was formed in 2005 to take over amenity land and local angling rights in the village. Run by a Board of eight volunteer Directors and three part time employees, it has several successful community buy-outs to its name. Land was purchased in 2013 to help establish a community-run hydro scheme, run by Sunart Community Renewables, which then helped with seedcorn funding to enable Strontian Community School Building Ltd to achieve its vision of a community-owned primary school leased to the local authority. SCC also bought the former Visit Scotland visitor centre to create a thriving local craft shops and visitor information point, as well as acquiring the land around the local jetty and slip to facilitate public access to Loch Sunart.
5. Contact: Becky  Drinkwater - enquiries@sunartcommunitycompany.co.uk