Merry Christmas from CCDC!
Back by popular demand! The Community Skip has returned to Achagarry. Funded by those helpful elves at Coigach Community Council, the skip is here for the holidays. And remember – no liquids, no soft furnishings and absolutely no fridges!
Introduction from Laura
As the year draws to a close, it feels like the perfect time to pause, reflect, and look ahead with hope. 2025 has been a year of growth and transition for CCDC, and we are grateful for the many people who have shaped the journey.
We’re delighted to welcome Andrew Macleod as the newest member of our Board, and equally pleased to have Julie Edwards return to the table after a short break. Our new chairperson (pictured below, with Harry the stag!) is Ben Walton, and Paula Shepherd is our vice chair. We offer warm thanks to Dan Walton, who retired from the Board this year— his commitment and contribution over the years have been invaluable.
Alongside changes at Board level, we’ve welcomed two new staff members into the organisation: John Todd, our new Chief Finance Officer, and Laura Traynor, our Community Energy Officer. Their skills and energy have already made a positive impact, and we’re excited for what comes next with them on the team. At the same time, we extend heartfelt thanks to Amy, who moved on from CCDC earlier this year. We wish Amy all the very best with her new business, Noost. Thanks also must go to Cathy Holmes and Steve Husband, whose enthusiasm and commitment carried the garden project through to the end of their fixed-term roles.
Wind Turbine Update
The problem with doing an update for a newsletter is that it doesn’t necessarily align with points in time where a clear, unambiguous update is possible. That is the case this time.
Readers may remember that the turbine stopped generating in early May after the replacement of the turbine’s generator. The generator exchange took place after our maintenance partner identified its bearings as being worn at a scheduled maintenance visit. After we proactively changed the generator, the shaft connecting it to the turbine gearbox “disassembled”.
Since then, we have been working on bringing the turbine back online.
In order to understand all the issues, we have paid two companies, who might become our maintenance partners, to inspect the turbine. They have identified some issues requiring attention that will lead to some additional work being necessary (on top of the damage sustained when the turbine shaft broke) before we can get the turbine going again.
At this time, we are going through the process of understanding the issues to see: which of these additional works we agree needs doing; whether they must be done before the turbine starts generating again, or whether they can wait until after generation begins; the most effective way to have the work carried out; and whether the work is part of our insurance claim or not.
We are investigating avenues open to us to see whether these additional repairs are covered by insurance.
Until recently, the insurers had stated that we could only make one claim against our insurance, but in December they indicated that they would accept an interim lost production claim. As a result, we submitted a claim for lost production to 14th December 2025.
The directors of Coigach Community CIC will update the community as and when the picture on the way ahead becomes clearer.
Achagarry
The Achagarry team has been hard at work putting together a comprehensive funding portfolio to allow the works to start on site as early as possible in 2026. We’ve been working with our project managers CHT to revise the cost plan and ensure that we can fund the full construction phase package. Applications have been made to two major funders and we’ll be applying to the Ecology Building Society for a loan. Once we have over 30% of the cost of the building work (close to £3 million) we can apply to the Scottish Government’s Rural and Islands Housing Fund for up to 70% and get the first spades in the ground.
Achagarry: beacon of hope!
In true Blue Peter style, Julia has drawn us this lighthouse to illustrate the funding journey.
We’re optimistic that by the spring of 2026, the lighthouse light will be on. We’ve made a good start, with £243,000 already in the bag! If you’re in the hall, keep an eye on the lighthouse to see how funding progresses.
Community Garden
The community garden goes from strength to strength. Over the summer, we ran a stall at the Gathering and sold produce, lots of tomato plants and bunches of flowers to local people and visitors. The honesty box at the garden gate has been a real success, proving to be a great place to sell the masses of tomatoes that were grown in the Keder house, along with peppers, courgettes, aubergines, potatoes and green veg. We also had several plant and produce sales down at the Keder house over the summer. Regular Tuesday afternoon sessions are continuing right through the year, with occasional weekend events, giving people the chance to meet up and tackle bigger jobs. Please let Ann Marie know if you would like to take on an indoor (or outdoor, if you like!) growing space, or everyone is most welcome to pop down and see what’s going on on Tuesday afternoons.
In June, Ann Marie attended an event run by Keep Scotland Beautiful at the magnificent Scone Palace Garden near Perth. She met up with people from community gardens all over Scotland. This event was followed up with a visit to Achiltibuie by the Keep Scotland Beautiful ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ assessor, Ian Mitchell. He spent an afternoon session talking to our group of volunteers about the community garden and sent through a very useful report which we will be taking ideas and advice from. The garden was awarded a Level 3 – Advancing certificate, which is very encouraging.
Coigach Community Gym
Earlier in the year, we undertook a feasibility study regarding a community gym for Coigach and, as a result, we are set to run a pilot project in the hall’s former snooker room. The biggest hurdle has been moving the snooker table itself, which took up about a quarter of the room’s space! Thankfully, a new home was found for it at the Bridge Hotel in Bonar Bridge, which is currently being refurbished. The photo shows the table being dismantled – the six slates on its top weighed a total of well over a tonne!
The room is now empty and we hope to have the gym up and running in the new year! Please email annmariefb@coigachcommunity.com with your mobile number if you would like to be added to the gym users’ WhatsApp group.
New Playparks for Coigach?
Improved playpark facilities in Coigach was identified as a priority project through consultation locally. Recently, we have been running a survey to find out what people would like to see here – here’s the link to the survey which is still open: New Playparks for Coigach?
In the new year, we will put together a feasibility study which will incorporate the results from this survey. Watch this space!
Highland Energy Community Partnership
The Highland Energy Community Partnership (HECP) is now officially live in Coigach after an event to mark the launch of the project in our area.
Following the CCDC AGM on 17th November Mhairi Macsween, Changeworks’ Highland Energy Community Partnership Manager, and Laura Traynor, CCDC’s Community Energy Officer, gave a brief introduction to the partnership and the work that will be taking place across the partnership area and in Coigach over the next 5 years. This included how the work will help local households to lower their energy bills and keep their homes cosier through access to funding and installers for energy efficiency and renewables.
After the talk we had a break for some nibbles and refreshments, and then it was all change in the room as we went from AGM seating to tables ready for the climate themed music quiz!
A great time was had by all those that took part in the quiz. Rounds included a “dingbats” style picture round, name the song title and artist of songs that mention weather, habitats and animals that could be affected by climate change, and name the year of key dates in climate action and the biggest songs of those years. There was a very impressive music knowledge of those who attended so it was a close run thing!
Thanks to everyone who took part for making it such a fun night – maybe we’ll put on another quiz in the future!
For more information about the partnership check out Changeworks’ HECP homepage or our own HECP page. This page also has details on how you can get in touch with the project.
Polbain Path
The Badentarbat Estate now being under community ownership has given us the chance to revisit the Polbain Path project from many years ago. We are talking with some of the people who were originally involved and collecting together materials from the original proposal. A huge amount of work was done and it is exciting to have the chance to maybe realise the original vision.
The photo shows Polbain from off-shore: the proposed path route was originally to run along the bottom of the crofts by the sea and then head up to join the old peat track.
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.
