TEN YEARS AGO Friday July 20, 2012

Hopes high for Home Farm hub

Plans to transform Kilmory Home Farm into a community hub could be revived this week as a Lochgilphead resident urges local people to support the project.

Colin Campbell is calling for volunteers to form a new Kilmory Home Farm Project Group after the previous committee dissolved last year.

Mr Campbell, who previously chaired Kilmory Home Farm Steering Group, said he remained hopeful the land and its buildings could be developed into a recreational hub for Lochgilphead.

Speaking to The Advertiser on Wednesday, Mr Campbell said he wanted volunteers to take forward small projects that make use of the land.

Explaining a large-scale redevelopment of the farmhouse and out buildings is currently unlikely due to the economic climate and limited grant funding, Mr Campbell said: ‘I thought it would be better to take forward small ideas within the grounds of Home Farm with a view to working up to possibly redeveloping the buildings at a later date.’

Excited about the potential within the grounds, Mr Campbell added: ‘We could set up a community allotment as there’s plenty of ground that isn’t being used and I know there is an interest in the forest tracks for horse riding. With the school nearby there could be an outdoor classroom and outdoor gym. These are all projects that could be done relatively quickly.’

Mr Campbell’s call for volunteers comes as Argyll and Bute Council confirms plans to extend the Kilmory Industrial Estate. In a planning change to the Local Development Plan, the council may re-designate land in Kilmory Estate from commercial use to industrial, business and community use.

A spokeswoman for the council said the new arrangement would facilitate both an expansion of the existing industrial estate and the redevelopment of Kilmory Home Farm.

She said: ‘The identification of this site for shared community/business use has the potential to create a new safe access to the Kilmory area which will hopefully open up the potential for the Home Farm and surrounding land for community uses.’