Kintyre Seasports project anchored
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has joined Sir Paul McCartney with financial help for a South Kintyre project aiming to revitalise seasports in Campbeltown. In January, auctioned items of McCartney memorabilia raised £8,235 for Kintyre Seasports Project. This week HIE approved a grant of more than £16,000 towards the cost of an options appraisal of possible sites for the Kintyre Seasports Project. Part of the appraisal process would include a public consultation about the possible sites to gauge feedback. The project aims to grow participation, generate life chances for young people and attract adventure tourism to South Kintyre. It already has the support of 16 community organisations, Argyll and Bute Council and RYA Scotland. A new charity, the Kintyre Seasports SCIO, was established in May 2017 to raise funds. Campbell Fox, chairman of the SCIO, said: ‘Campbeltown Loch is a world class marine sports resource. ‘The main thing preventing the South Kintyre community exploiting it to the full is lack of facilities. ‘Seasports plans to bridge the gap by building and operating new facilities in Campbeltown to internationally recognised standards. ‘To attract capital grants, we need planning permission and a professional full business case. ‘This is a costly and demanding process for a charity run by unpaid volunteers. ‘HIE’s very welcome support means we can get on with the critical first phase of appraising candidate locations.’ In 2016, a communityfunded outline business case concluded that the Seasports project was feasible, fundable and desirable. Momentum has since picked up. Last year 30 newcomers were trained to sail dinghies and a new stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) group was formed; local volunteers are now completing their training as SUP instructors. A first community regatta is planned for August 4 to open up participation in a range of marine sports. Two community organisations and three local sports clubs – sailing, kayaking and diving – have joined the SCIO as corporate members, with the approval of their national governing bodies. Others are likely to follow. ‘We didn’t start out to break new ground,’ added Mr Fox, ‘But the feedback we are getting suggests that our approach is both unusual and attractive to funders, because we have combined community and sports groups in a single, inclusive organisation. ‘But we still have to make the case, and objective cost/ benefit analysis of the options is essential.’ The options appraisal will look at potential locations for the proposed new building, taking account of community interest as well as planning and technical issues. Jennifer Nicoll, Argyll and the Islands area manager for HIE, said: ‘Kintyre Seasports is an ambitious project involving a large-scale redevelopment and therefore requires a full options appraisal of possible sites. ‘I am pleased we are able to support this early stage of the project and look forward to the findings of the appraisal.’ Kintyre Seasports Project member and the Kintyre Canoe Club coach Sid Gallagher ran a well-supported introduction to canoeing session last Saturday.