Community in ‘right-to-buy’ plan for ex-visitor centre
A MEETING of a local community benefit fund held last week agreed to award £5,000 to help Sunart Community Company acquire the former Visitor Information Centre in the heart of Strontian.
The cash grant from the Sunart Community Benefit Fund Panel follows the packed extraordinary general meeting of the community company in mid-February when the latter’s members voted overwhelmingly to update the charity’s constitution to comply with new legislation.
This will allow the charity to lodge a ‘community right to buy’ registration application with the Scottish Government in order to secure the disused visitor centre for the good of the area.
The centre was shut down by VisitScotland last autumn and is to be put up for sale. With the backing of community council and the local tourism association, the company aims to buy the building and ensure the community can choose the business that eventually rents the property and that a condition of any lease will be that visitor information, leaflets and maps continue to be stocked.
The Sunart Community Benefit Fund was formerly known as the Sunart Common Good Fund and is the method of distributing funds donated from the Sunart Community Renewables hydro electric scheme in the village. This spring they awarded £20,000 for local distribution.
Company treasurer James Hilder said the award of the £5,000 was a great boost to fundraising efforts.
‘What will help us with our application for more support is a clearer idea of those businesses which would like to lease or share a lease on the premises,’ Mr Hilder said.
‘We want to hear from any small business that might benefit from being located in the heart of the village, and would ask that they email izzy@ sunartcommunitycompany. co.uk before the end of March to obtain an expression of interest form. All inquiries will be dealt with in strict confidence.’
The charity has been holding conversations with VisitScotland over the winter, and in November, at the AGM of Sunart, Morvern, Moidart, Ardnamurchan and Ardgour Tourist Association (SMMAATA) tabled a motion of support for community ownership, which was unanimously supported, with the aim of maintaining a key focal point for visitor information in Strontian.
If successful, the company will own the building and its ‘footprint’ and will have shared access rights to the car park in front for customers in perpetuity (it already owns the village green to the rear of the building).
The community company then hopes to enter into a commercial lease with a local business or several businesses working collaboratively. The annual rent will cover overheads, including buildings insurance and business rates, with any profits thereafter being used to support community projects locally.
Timescales are unclear but is likely that no deal will be concluded for a few months and therefore prospective tenants must consider whether they wish to take on the lease part way through the season or make an expression of interest for next year.
The company says that, in order to make a strong case to funders and the Scottish Government, it would be helpful to know how many prospective tenants there are for the property, and whether they wish to trade independently, or might wish to share the rental costs by working collaboratively.
Steven Speedie, VisitScotland’s head of facilities, said this week that the organisation’s board had now deemed the Strontian property as surplus to requirements.
‘We are now just waiting for government approval and then it can be put up for sale,’ Mr Speedie added.