Welcome to CCDC's Summer Newsletter!
News from Achagarry
Another busy period on the housing front as we approach the summer. Following the submission of the Achagarry planning application in September 2024, the planning process required circulation to multiple consultees including Highland Council roads, forestry, Environment Health, SEPA, Nature Scot North etc. This process inevitably takes some time. However, comments have been received and addressed and minor revisions made to the designs where necessary. All issues have now been resolved and the final planning report is being finalised with full permission imminent. This is critical as the funding applications which we have been preparing are dependent on full planning permission being in place before the final submission is made.
In the interim, the team has prepared the detailed design of the houses, a Building Warrant application has been submitted and the construction project has gone out to tender to main contractors. CCDC will be able to appoint a building contractor once all the funding is in place and we’ll hopefully be putting the first spades into the ground later in the year!
We continue to look for other potential sites and ways to deliver more affordable homes in Coigach. The acquisition of Badentarbat Estate has reopened the potential for further development on the Badentarbat Special Grazings site between the council depot and the fire station. We’ll also be liaising with the Local Place Plan (LPP) process which the Community Council has initiated. This may highlight further potential and will give CCDC the opportunity to integrate our strategy with the wider Coigach LPP.
Achiltibuie Primary School
Last year, the wooden extension to Achiltibuie Primary School was condemned. The Highland Council is now proceeding with its demolition, and currently intends to replace the condemned structure with a portacabin. In response, CCDC, Scottish Sea Farms, Summer Isles Enterprises and the Achiltibuie Primary School Parent Council have come together to develop a proposal based around a local, sustainable build that would have a lower environmental impact, be more appropriate for our National Scenic Area and – crucially – provide a more pleasant, inspiring and permanent learning environment for our children.
Badentarbat Estate
CCDC has six working groups that govern its Programme, Finances, Management, Charitable Giving, Communications and Board Processes. Having now added Badentarbat Estate to its portfolio, the company has set up an Interim Estate Business Working Group.
The group now has terms of reference which will be reviewed in October 2025 and draft guiding principles. The group, composed of CCDC Directors and staff, meets to consider weddings, sales, mapping, crofting matters, wayleaves, policy and wildfire management.
To protect individuals’ privacy whilst maintaining transparency, grazings clerks and shareholders are invited to the open section of the agenda, whilst individual’s private business is discussed in the closed section.We look forward to working with a consultant over the latter half of 2025 to support development of a shared vision for the estate, a suite of policies and a more permanent management structure.
Community Skip Pilot Project
CCDC’s skip for Coigach residents’ use is currently sited at Achagarry where you can deposit domestic items. It will soon need emptying but it will be back! Please take care when entering the site and do not allow dogs or children to play in or around the skip as there is broken glass and rubble close by and the skip may contain sharp or broken items.
No liquids, no soft-furnishings and no fridges, freezers or heat pump tumble dryers please!
Highland Council can collect items (including soft-furnishings, fridges etc) from near your home. Search ‘BULKY UPLIFT’ online and book your slot via www.highland.gov.uk (£29 for up to 3 items, £58 for up to 6). If you’d like help with booking, please call Julia 07745205433 or call in to the CCDC office at Coigach Community Hall (Mon – Wed).
Coigach Community Garden
It’s been a busy few months at the garden! New raised beds have been built and the hydroponic systems have been re-commissioned for this growing season. The volunteers also planted a big potato patch down near the fruit cages and we’re hoping to harvest some soon. Tomatoes are coming along, onions, shallots and beautiful yellow courgettes are appearing, along with cabbages and greens, and we’ve just finished harvesting the first crops of peas, broad beans and first early potatoes grown under cover. And the Keder house is full of flowers for the pollinators.
The Keder house is divided into individual growing beds – nine at the moment – and larger community beds; the produce from the latter is currently being used to stock our community larder sentry box at the garden gate in Achiltibuie.
Volunteers meet up on a Tuesday afternoon from 2pm for a couple of hours. New volunteers and visitors are always welcome to come down – join us for a cup of tea and a chat and see what’s happening.
We’re running a stall at the Gathering on 5 July so come and find us! We’ll be selling produce and plants. If you’d like to take on a growing space, please speak to Ann Marie.
Welcome to Laura, our new Community Energy Officer!
We welcomed Laura Traynor to the CCDC team in June in the role of Community Energy Officer as part of the Highland Energy Community Partnership (HECP). For more information about the partnership, see The Highland Energy Community Partnership | Changeworks. The partnership brings together communities from 6 areas of the Highlands to help make homes easier to heat and to address the barriers to achieving this. The partnership is just starting up now and more information will be available in the coming months.
Laura’s background is in energy efficiency and renewables and she has a Masters degree in energy economics. She has worked for a renewables installer and delivered the Pure Power for Lochbroom project for Ullapool Community Trust back in 2012-2014. Since then she has worked in other community project roles including as Assistant Scheme Manager for the Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape Partnership Scheme and recently as West Highlands and Skye Project Assistant for Samaritans.
Speak to Laura to discuss what the Highland Energy Community Partnership can help you with by emailing laurat@coigachcommunity.com or drop in to the CCDC office on Mondays or Wednesdays. Laura would particularly like to hear from people who have previously had an assessment from Home Energy Scotland and whether they did or did not make changes to their homes. This will help to show what barriers exist locally to getting work done, whether that’s cost, availability of suppliers, ineligibility for funding, or any other reason.
Energy Local Update
Many thanks to everyone who contacted us and submitted their annual electricity usage. This has
allowed us to build a model, based on a number of assumptions, that gives us confidence that the Energy Club should be viable.
There are two regulatory constraints that we need to meet in order to set up an Energy Club.
The first is that the generator and consumers have to all be using the same primary
transformer. In our case, this means everyone whose power comes through the
transformer at the county shed can be member of the Energy Club.
The second condition is that the generator and the consumers have to be at the same
voltage. Disappointingly we are not. The turbine is connected at 11 kVA, whereas the
consumers are at low voltage. This is not a technical problem, but one of regulation falling
behind the technology it is supposed to regulate.
There is a proposed amendment to the regulations called P441 which will overcome this
problem. But it isn’t going to be this year when it gets approved. We will have to wait until the regulations change before we can set up our Energy Club.
In the meantime, the more people who install smart meters, the better the information we will
have to implement the Club when the regulations are updated. Please speak to Laura Traynor if you need any advice.
CCDC Needs Your Support!
Please scan the QR code below to join us as a member or click on the link here. With your support we can demonstrate that there is community buy-in to CCDC’s projects. Membership also gives you the opportunity to influence what happens and the chance to be on our Board of Directors.
