Brora Community Council gave Old Clyne School project seal of approval three years ago, reveals heritage society chairman
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Brora Community Council, which last week voiced concerns about a £3.5 million heritage hub and visitor destination project in the village, endorsed the scheme three years ago, it has emerged.
Dr Nick Lindsay, chairman of Clyne Heritage Society, which is behind the initiative to covert the historic but derelict Old Clyne School into a museum, cafe and shop, said he has a letter from community council chairman Russell Rekhy dated November 2020, part of which reads: “This is a long-awaited redevelopment and restoration project which we are happy to endorse.”
However, community councillors appear to have since changed their minds, saying at their August meeting that the Old Clyne School, located off the A9 and NC500 at the northern outskirts of the village, would draw visitors away from the centre. Fears were also voiced at the cost of the project and the length of time it was taking to achieve.
They have also indicated their unwillingness to support the award to the society of £250,000 drawdown, on offer from Gordonbush Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund for a ‘legacy project’.
But Dr Lindsay has stressed that, once complete, the new heritage hub and visitor destination would be a major attraction and an asset to the village.
“The whole point of relocation is for us to be centralised in one place at a much better site to proudly display the amazing, unique history of Brora to a wider audience and provide the community with purpose-built facilities in which to participate and enjoy their own heritage,” he said.
He pointed out that the project had 52 letters of support from local, regional and national organisations, politicians, business and neighbours and had attracted financial support from 12 different major funders, raising a total of £3.2 million to date. All monies had come from funds ringfenced for heritage and community projects.
Dr Lindsay acknowledged the length of time the project was taking, but said it had been hit by spiralling costs and delays due to Covid, Brexit and inflation. The society was around £800,000 short of the current construction and cost tender and had submitted three further funding applications.
Regarding the community benefit fund drawdown, Dr Lindsay said he was aware it was at the discretion of the community council, adding: “We understood that the purpose of this funding was to support large projects going through exactly the spiralling cost challenges that our project is currently suffering from.”
He added that the society’s current headquarters at Fascally was owned by Highland Council and was too small and remote to turn into a heritage hub and was a kilometre from the village on a single-track road
