News

This week our new fruit trees arrived from Shielfoot Organics and we visited the site behind the playing field this week to see where would be best to plant them. A lot of clearing and deer-proofing will be needed before the trees can go in the ground so we are hoping to organise 2 community work days in February to prepare the site for planting (weather depending!)

Friday 21st February 1-4pm & Friday 28th February 10am-4pm. Sign up to volunteer here on our website or send us an message (email or facebook).

We are delighted to announce the successful award of £258,150 from the Scottish Land Fund to enable us to buy the site for community housing and two areas of amenity land in the village. Negotiations are now underway with the sellers and plans are ongoing for both projects. Within the village, owning the shorefront, playing field and the area around the field will enable us to take forward plans for sustainable tourism and continue to improve the facilities for residents and visitors: a new car park, new paths, better refuse management, new seating and interpretation boards are all part of the current plans. We are still actively consulting with residents and community members about these plans and welcome input or suggestions…what would you like us to do with these areas? What is working and what is not working. Please let us know.

ACT have been awarded development funding from the Scottish Land Fund and Rural Housing Fund for a feasibility study for new housing in the village.  We have expressed an interest in an area of land at Station Road, which has planning in principle for 6 houses, and appointed Highland Small Communities Housing Trust and Sam Foster Architects to help up survey the land, draw up a proposed site plan, housing designs and business plan.  Through our planned consultation days, members of the public will be able to see the drawings and give feedback on the designs.

The Land, Sea and Islands Centre has a new upgraded car park and work is underway on the multi-use workshop building.  The new car park was badly needed for the centre and the village, which have both seen visitor numbers increase year after year.  The building will hold workshops at the centre as well as housing additional artefacts, the community e-bikes and equipment for maintaining the playing field.  Funding for the project was gratefully received from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, EU LEADER, the Arisaig Fund and public donations including from the late Bill Henderson, after whom the building will be named ‘Bill’s Shed.’

Arisaig Railway Station is the most Westerly station in Britain and is situated at an attractive viewing point above the village.  The historic station buildings, built in 1901, have been largely unused for many years however the Trust now has an opportunity to put them to use once again.  Negotiations are taking place to lease one of the rooms and transform it into something that can be used by the community as a meeting and office space.  Improvements to the room would be carried out to upgrade the kitchen and bathroom, add shelving, storage and high speed internet.  If you have a business, are working from home or would be interested in using the space, we’d like to hear from you!  Get in touch to find out how to get involved: info@arisaigcommunitytrust.org.uk

The Arisaig Community Trust has commissioned The Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCHT) to undertake an in-depth local analysis of housing need and future demand. A wider survey to those who are interested in living in Arisaig will also take place and will be advertised through social media. Every household should receive a copy by post shortly. Please complete and return it in the pre-paid envelope or via the online link provided. Your response will be treated IN STRICTEST CONFIDENCE. HSCHT will use responses for statistical analysis only – no personal information will be shared.

The Arisaig Community Trust AGM was held at the Astley Hall, Wednesday 15th November 2017.

A new board was elected comprising Julie Gordon, Iain Macniven, Pamela King, Peter Fleming, Judy Budge, Jane Foster and Paul Sheard. Julie was elected as Chair, with Iain as Vice Chair and Judy as Treasurer. The new board brings together a diverse set of skills including legal, financial, IT, construction and community development, so the future of the Trust is bright. The new board is already deeply involved in major projects including the further expansion of the Land, Sea and Islands Centre,

Sunday’s Butterfly & Moth event at the Arisaig Land, Sea & Islands Centre was a great success, despite the relentless morning rain!

About 25 people of all ages braved the rain to join us for morning coffee and homemade cakes, before Tom Prescott from Butterfly Conservation, opened up the moth traps (set the night before in Morar, Tougal and Arisaig) to reveal their contents. Lots of very beautiful moths were identified, including a couple of species as yet unrecorded on this part of the west coast.  The moths were less than enthusiastic about regaining their freedom in such wet weather conditions. . .

A timely, early afternoon gap in the rain lasted long enough for a very enjoyable, and wonderfully informal butterfly walk and talk, led by Tom, around nearby Arisaig Glen.

The children were encouraged to take part in the Big Butterfly Count, currently taking place around the UK –  www.bigbutterflycount.org  – an annual survey of butterfly numbers and species, organised by Butterfly Conservation.