January 2024 Update

Having appointed James Hilder as the new part time Development Officer last Autumn, and most recently, Becky Drinkwater of Ardnamurchan Marketing, to assist with communications and membership, the ADGT is now working to take forward some of the projects highlighted in the Ardgour Place Plan.

Ardgour can proudly say that it was only the second Community Council  in the whole Highland area to complete the Place Planning process and to have the plan adopted by Highland Council,  - so far only 8 place plans have been adopted in total - we are trailblazers! Thank you everyone who contributed.

The Place Plan is a document for everyone to use whether trying to progress a business or community project. Whilst some of the community aspirations in the plan are firmly in the hands of the Community Council, others are being progressed via the Trust with local groups, using the four heading used in the Plan.

Services and Facilities  -  

  • Dail Mhor – the Trust is lending support to the lobbying efforts of the five community councils and Urram to try to get NHS Highland to reconsider their position on the closure of Dail Mhor with several meetings held with Kate Forbes MSP and other stakeholders.

  • Childcare – we have enabled James to work with Urram and the Ardnamurchan Childcare Action Group who have successfully raised money for a detailed feasibility study supported by Highlands & Islands Enterprise, to examine ways of improving childcare and Pre-3’s nursery provision locally and consultants have been commissioned.

  • Treslaig and Ardgour Village Halls have received support with almost £60,000 of grant applications submitted – either for energy efficiency and solar panels or repairs. 

  • We have also supported Ardgour Village Hall with a wee bit of assistance to streamline booking and invoicing  ahead of their financial year end and scoping work is being done to prepare a development plan for the next phase of major improvements to this important asset – including resolving the legal ownership of the property.

Better connections -

  • Preliminary research has been carried out on the footpaths around North Corran and Clovullin to see how the current network could be improved and what funding is currently available, with similar scoping being done for cycling infrastructure improvements at Camusnagaul watch out for news of local meetings.

Community, culture and landscape -

  • We are now starting to contact every local community group in the CC area to offer them a free space on the Ardgour Communities Together website which is also where you will find updates on the work of the Trust.

  • We have begun work to develop a “What’s on” Webpage and Facebook facility via the ADGT website and social media to complement the local Whatsapp groups but also for visitors to the area.

  • We are also continuing to sign up as many residents as possible as Members of the Trust – remember its totally FREE and helps us with accessing funding for the area, and an “Associate

Member” category is being added to our constitution to enable non-residents such as friends, family and visitors to join.

  • We have started the legal processes to look at acquiring the land between the Hall and Primary School for amenity use, and exploring the possibility of having a multi-use games area beside the school.

  • With assistance from Mary-Ann Kennedy we also submitted an application for a Gaelic version of the “Geo-tourist” Trail around Ardgour which was sadly rejected we will try again!

Affordable homes for  -

  • Meetings have been held with Ardgour, Conaglen and Kingairloch Estates to share thoughts on possible developments, including land for future housing over the long term.

  • Legal and fundraising work has been begun on trying to acquire land beside Ardgour Primary School to progress 6 new affordable housing units, although Scottish Government funding for new housing is severely limited and new houses may take several years to complete.

For regular updates please see the website or social media post and sign up for Membership at https://www.ardgourcommunitiestogether.net/new-page