High hopes for new Jura family homes

SIX NEW family houses could be built on Jura next summer by West Highland Housing Association to help address the island’s need for more homes.

‘We have a commitment to Jura,’ West Highland Housing Association’s chief executive Lesley McInnes told The Oban Times.

‘People are saying there is a need for houses, especially with all the developments going on.’

Employment on Jura has been boosted this year by the army of workers building a world- class 18-hole private golf course on the 12,000 acre Ardfin Estate.

Its owner Mr Greg Coffey, a retired hedge fund manager, is reported to have spent more than £ 50 million of his £430 million fortune renovating Jura House and its grounds.

Earlier this year the island’s 190-strong population surged by 50 per cent with the arrival of 85 contractors, with local businesses welcoming the increased trade.

‘We would want to be building in the summer months,’ Ms McInnes said.

‘ We want to fit in with the local environment [ but] we tend to build two to three bedroom houses and people are keen for families to settle.

‘We want to understand where the housing needs to be. The housing association has a small site which we are keen to develop but it would not be able to carry six houses, so we will be looking for more land.’

Two more houses planned for Croft Park on Jura will no longer be built because of access issues, Jura Community Council reported in the minutes from its last meeting.