A Highland community foundation has obtained planning permission for new affordable homes in an area often called 'Scotland's last wilderness'.
After successfully purchasing land from a local landowner prior to the pandemic with support from the Scottish Land Fund, Knoydart Foundation has gained planning permission for six affordable homes on the Knoydart Peninsula in Lochaber.
The proposed plan for the community-owned site is to provide six "much-needed" affordable homes on the site of Millburn Cottage in Inverie - the only village on Knoydart.
Knoydart Foundation said that the existing cottage "will be sympathetically renovated and converted into three dwellings, two new semi-detached and one detached home will be available for self-build".
Meanwhile, the rest of the site "remains central to Knoydart Foundation's plans for agro-forestry, sustainable tourism and their community development goals".
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Having supported the community with the land acquisition, the Communities Housing Trust (CHT) is continuing to facilitate the development process, with the assistance of Rural and Islands Housing Fund Feasibility Funding and a loan facility from the Highland Council.
The project in Knoydart follows in the footsteps of other similar projects in Lochaber, such as Arisaig Community Trust’s three affordable homes and three plots completed earlier this year with Scottish Government funding.
Millburn Cottage has lain empty since 2015 and it will bring a property back into use to protect its historic and cultural significance.
Knoydart Foundation has expressed its hope that the new housing will boost the primary school roll of the peninsula and provide much needed affordable housing for the local population, who "would otherwise have to move elsewhere despite Knoydart’s flourishing local economy being boosted by community owned assets such as the ‘Wee Hooses’ and the recently acquired and renovated Old Forge pub".
In the summer of 2020, the organisation undertook a community survey which it says showed "clear need and strong support for new homes for local residents and those with a need to live on Knoydart".
Following a tender exercise Catoe Brown Architects and Harley Haddow Engineers were appointed as a Design Team to progress a community design brief.
Knoydart Foundation said that it is committed to providing new opportunities for the area, including through future plans to increase local food production and through its worker’s accommodation project, which is "integral" to new developments such as housing and energy infrastructure.
Sara Donald, Knoydart Foundation's Accommodation Project Manager, said: “We’re excited to reach this milestone in the project which will revive a well-known cottage and provide six additional homes, supporting the population on Knoydart and enabling the community to continue to flourish and grow.
"Local residents are very supportive of the plans and collaboration with CHT and the Design Team has been fundamental in getting to this point. We can’t wait to embark on the next stage of the project”
Morven Taylor, Interim CEO of Communities Housing Trust, added: “There’s a really strong sense of community in Knoydart and it is a very special place to visit, always with a warm welcome.
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"The Knoydart Foundation have been committed partners in this project from the outset and they are dedicated to provide affordable housing and opportunities to help to grow and sustain their local population over time. The support of strategic partners has been vital in getting the project to this stage and we look forward to working on the development phase of this essential community-led housing project.”
Knoydart boasted a population of around 1,000 until the end of the 18th century, but the impact of the Highland Clearances saw it slump to just 80.
A new law allowed servicemen returning from the Second World War to take land and use it as their own, but efforts to release land in Knoydart were resisted.
Led by a priest, Father Colin Macpherson, Sandy Macphee, Duncan McPhail, Henry MacAskill, Jack MacHardy, Archie MacDonald and William Quinn decided to take matters into their own hands in 1948.
Lord Brocket secured a court order to remove them and eventually won a bitter legal battle. However, their actions are largely seen as paving the way for an eventual community buyout of the Knoydart Estate in 1999 - led by the Knoydart Foundation - after decades of battles with absentee landlords.
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