BAILED OUT!
Community in £3m buyout is rescued from cash crisis... by wealthy landowner
IT was hailed as a triumph of ordinary residents over the tyranny of wealthy private landowners.
But one of Scotland’s most highprofile community buyouts has had to be rescued from the brink of financial ruin – by a billionaire who now owns more of the country than anyone else.
Danish tycoon Anders Povlsen has handed an interest-free loan of more than £100,000 to the Assynt Foundation, the community-run charity which used land reform laws to buy two Highland estates in 2005.
The group has been struggling financially for years – and last night admitted it had asked Mr Povlsen’s Wildland company for cash after banks refused to loan the foundation more money.
Assynt Foundation executive officer Gordon Robertson said: ‘We had run out of working capital and had exhausted the usual lenders such as banks and trusts. We were frustrated – we could see such a good way forward, but banks and others said, “No, not on your past record”.
‘We made the approach to Wildland because we share similar values to the land as Mr Povlsen. He knows the area well. We showed them our projections and they liked what we are trying to do to look after precious landscapes. It is a lifeline. The money is banked and we’ve never been in a better position. The value of the estate has doubled from £2.9 million when we bought it.’
Mr Robertson said the loan would be repaid ‘by the end of the year’.
The Assynt Foundation used land reform laws in 2005 to force the wealthy Vestey family to sell the Glencanisp and Drumrunie estates in Sutherland and Wester Ross.
The estates, which include the iconic Suilven and Canisp mountains, had been owned for 70 years by the Vesteys, who made a fortune in the meat trade. When the Vesteys tried to sell the estates, the Scottish Government blocked the sale to allow the foundation to buy the land in the £2.9 million deal, which was funded by donations, government money and lottery funds.
Wildland chief executive Tim Kirkwood said: ‘We know from experience how hard it is to make these remote, fragile landscapes pay the bills, while protecting habitats, generating employment and creating the necessary fabric for the communities involved.’
Retail mogul Mr Povlsen, 46, owns 12 estates, including Glenfeshie in the Cairngorms, covering a total of more than 220,000 acres.