TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Friday August 23, 1996

KCR loses bid for hospital site

Kintyre Community Radio has lost its chance to run the radio station from the site of Campbeltown’s former Cottage Hospital.

Argyll and Bute NHS Trust, which owns the premises, put a closing date for offers on the sale and the radio station heard this week that its offer of £10,000 had been rejected in favour of a higher bid.

A spokesman for the Argyll and Bute NHS Trust, based in Lochgilphead, confirmed the property had been sold to Crag Park Limited on Tuesday, but would not confirm the selling price.

Mr John Campbell of KCR said he was disappointed with the NHS trust for selling the building to the highest bidder.

He said the Cottage Hospital had been given to the community of Kintyre 100 years ago this November and, therefore, efforts should have been made to keep the premises in the hands of the community – for example a community business.

He said: ‘This was a guaranteed opportunity for a building which was given to the community in the first place, to remain in community hands. Now it’s lost to the community for ever. It really is a slap in the face for Kintyre.’

A trust spokesman said that he did fully sympathise with Mr Campbell and Kintyre Community Radio.

However, he said: ‘Unfortunately as a trust we have to dispose of public assets according to the rules and regulations laid out and we did call for a fair closing date.

‘We don’t actually get the chance to consider offers. They are dealt with by our legal department,’ he added.

The spokesman went on to say the money raised from the sale would be used within the Argyll and Bute trust area and would not go into general NHS funds. Kintyre Community Radio will continue to broadcast from its current location on Campbeltown Harbour until October but will need to find somewhere suitable before it can start up again. If KCR had won the bid for the hospital, it planned not only to use the premises to broadcast from but also as a media education unit.