A three-year campaign to take a remote Highland estate into community ownership has been backed by a £1 million award from the Scottish Land Fund.
Morvern Community Woodlands (MCW) has now launched an appeal to raise the remaining £1.7 million needed to complete the purchase of the 6,000 acre Killundine Estate.
The estate overlooking the Sound of Mull is owned by Roderick and Althea Lauder but has no residents and five unoccupied houses.
MCW wants to reverse population decline in what is one of the most remote parts of Scotland and attract more young people to live there.
Lochaline Primary School, which in December became the first school in the Highlands – and only the seventh in Scotland – to be rated “excellent” by Education Scotland, has a roll of 16, having fallen from 36 in 1998.
Plans include creating new crofts and jobs and building affordable housing, as well as harvesting timber, restoring estate buildings, regenerating native woodland and restoring peatlands.
Last year, MCW was awarded £6,000 by Highlands and Islands Enterprise for an economic impact assessment after registering an interest in the estate under the Community Right to Buy legislation.
MCW chairman Veronique Walraven said: “Morvern is a fragile community with an ageing population and a falling school roll.
“Among other things, our plans for Killundine will bring business and housing prospects for young families.
“We now need to raise the additional capital of £1.7 million so the people of Morvern – and the West Highlands more widely – can benefit from the opportunities this presents.”
Alasdair Firth, who has led the project for MCW, said: “Post-Covid, this grant will provide a boost to both the economy and the environment.
“We are delighted to be one step closer to being able to take this forward.”
The award was welcomed by Roseanna Cunningham, who is Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform.
She said: “I am pleased that Morvern Community Woodland have secured this significant funding and hope it will help the project take great steps towards fulfilling its ambition to create jobs and housing for the local community, restoring peatland and protecting the natural environment within the Killundine Estate.”
John Watt, Scottish Land Fund committee chairman, added: “Awards to fragile communities such as Morvern give local people the opportunity to take ownership of the assets on their doorstep and use them in ways that will reap benefits for future generations.”
