Chance to tap into fund that boosted John O'Groats Mill plan by £1.5m
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A fund which provided £1.5 million towards the regeneration of John O'Groats Mill in January is seeking expressions of interest for its next round.
Highland Council is now accepting submissions for the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund for 2024-2025.
The fund, which is delivered in partnership with the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), supports locally developed place-based regeneration projects that involve local communities, helping to tackle inequalities and deliver inclusive growth in deprived, disadvantaged, and fragile remote communities across Scotland.
The opening of applications marks round 11 of the fund. Since it opened in 2014, 18 projects from the Highland Council region have received funding, including the John O’Groats Mill in January this year.
Cllr Ken Gowans, chairman of the council’s economy and infrastructure committee, said: “Highland Council has been successful in securing Regeneration Capital Grant Fund grants from the Scottish Government since it was established in 2014.
"The fund is an incredibly competitive challenge fund; therefore, the council can only submit applications for projects that are suitably well developed and can demonstrate that they will commence in 2024-25.
"I would encourage any organisations or groups with worthy projects to submit an expression of interest form by the deadline of Monday, June 12.”
Applications must be submitted by Highland Council so organisations and projects interested in applying should submit an expression of interest form at www.highland.gov.uk/info/20014/economic_development/844/regeneration by 9am on June 12.
This will be used to develop an official application should the project satisfy the criteria of the fund.
Among the criteria for projects are ones that focus on areas suffering from high levels of deprivation and disadvantage, that demonstrate clear community involvement, that will deliver large scale transformational change with strong regeneration outcomes, and projects and programmes that can encourage additional investment and address market failure.
The John O’Groats Mill Trust is leading an ambitious project to bring the category “B” listed mill back into use as a heritage visitor attraction and community venue, with work expected to begin by the end of this year.
Earlier this year it was awarded a further £1.6 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The mill was in operation until around 2001 when Magnus Houston last worked it. In 2020 the mill keys were presented to the trust by Sina Houston, ending the Houston family connection going back some 270 years through six generations.
Since then the trust, led by chairman Rognvald Brown, has been working with a design team of architects and engineers to develop its plans. These will see the existing building repaired and refurbished, while a new extension to the rear will provide a reception and community space.
