Huts the way forward at Camp
Big cash boost for self-catering project at Cultybraggan
Nissen huts at Clutybraggan Camp Nissen huts at Cultybraggan Camp are to be brought back to life thanks to an award of £638,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The funding will allow Comrie Development Trust (CDT) and the recently-formed Cultybraggan Heritage Self-Catering Society (CHSC) to open the doors on unique, four-star, accommodation at the historic community-owned site.
Those who invested in community shares to give financial support to the Cultybraggan Heritage Self Catering project have now had their faith in the development rewarded through the decisions of several funding partners.
A spokesperson for CDT said the village now had a “great opportunity for local people to get involved in a completely new and unique style of community enterprise as volunteers or businesses”.
Historic Environment Scotland have already pledged support through a Historic Buildings Repair Grant, which is anticipated to be in excess of £100,000 and will fund 40% of the repair work necessary to overhaul and preserve the 11 huts involved.
Perth-based Scottish and Southern Energy awarded the project £36,350 from its Sustainable Development Fund toward the cost of connecting the Nissen huts to the existing biomass boiler heating system and to providing mains electricity supply.
And with this latest news of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s six-figure sum, the project is now set to get going next year.
The CDT representative said: “HLF wants to help secure the future of Cultybraggan Camp as an important heritage site, and has also recognised how the selfcatering development can bring economic benefits to Comrie and the west Strathearn area.
“The Nissen huts were built in 1941 and designed for 15 years of use, but are now 75 years old. They had been maintained by the army over the intervening years but now require considerable investment and productive use if they are to be preserved over the long-term.
“CDT is planning major development over the next 10 years, and the self-catering development will be the first of those projects.
“As the area is already popular with visitors, the potential for using some of the huts for selfcatering purposes emerged as a possible option to be examined. An initial study in 2011, funded by a Big Lottery Investing in Ideas grant, concluded that the business case for self-catering huts was compelling.
“CDT has been working over the last five years with Historic Scotland, the Heritage Lottery Fund and more recently with JFS Architects and Visit Scotland on design, marketing and cost issues. Planning consent and listed building consent were both granted by Perth and Kinross Council in May 2016.”
Community shares were also issued last year, raising £27,525.
More than 200 shareholders are now members of the Cultybraggan Heritage Self Catering Society with the majority from the Comrie area retaining local control.
The registered society will manage the self-catering business, with the planned surplus income going to CDT to be used in ways that will benefit the local community.
The spokesperson continued: “CDT is grateful to its funders for providing the opportunity to deliver a great new resource at the community owned Cultybraggan Camp, and for the Strathearn area.”
Also benefiting from HLF’s latest pot of funding is the Skylark IX Recovery Trust, which received £423,300 for a project to restore the passenger cruiser Skylark IX, which was called to the aid of stranded Allied troops in Dunkirk in 1940, saving over 600 lives.
Lucy Casot, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said: “What these two projects have in common is that they are part of Scotland’s WW2 history and that, sadly, they are both in a sad state of repair.
“Thanks to players of the National Lottery, we are delighted to be able to help bring them back to life, not in the way that they were first intended, but in a way that is relevant to today. This will not only help secure their future, it will bring enjoyment and learning to very many people and a boost to their local economies.”