Extraordinary meeting to be held next week to discuss Carbisdale Castle owner's third land buy-out proposal
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Carbisdale Castle owner Samantha Kane is making a third attempt to gain community support for her bid to acquire publicly owned land adjacent to the castle.
Two previous proposals floated by the castle chatelaine have fallen by the wayside amid community concerns over public access. The land in question is managed by Forestry and Land Scotland.
Now Ardgay and District Community Council is to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) next week to discuss Ms Kane's latest proposal, details of which have yet to fully be made public.
However, it is understood that she has substantially scaled down the the area of land she wishes to take over to 7.4 acres – she has said it was now "effectively a cliff at the back of the castle".
The issue of the land buy-out was on the agenda at the inaugural meeting of the newly reformed community council, which was held online yesterday evening.
Ms Kane now has a seat on the community council and at that meeting it was agreed that she should take on the role of vice-chairperson. She was also nominated to be the community council representative on the Beinn Tharsuinn Windfarm Community Benefit Fund and also on the Achany Wind Farm Community Fund.
Community council chairman Silvia Muras explained why no discussion or decision on the land proposal could take place at yesterday's meeting.
She said the community council currently had only four members – the number at which it was quorate. If the land acquisition was to be discussed, Ms Kane would have to declare an interest, leaving only three members and meaning the meeting was no longer quorate and official decisions could not be made.
However, a local resident Dr Buster Crabb has agreed to be co-opted onto the community council.
As Ms Kane was keen not to wait until the community council's regular meeting in December, it was agreed that an Extraordinary General Meeting be held at which the first matter of business would be to officially co-opt Dr Crabb, making the number of members sufficient for a discussion to be held on the land buy-out.
Ms Muras said that Ms Kane would make a presentation on her proposal at the EGM and that would be followed by a question and answer session.
Following that, the community council would send a letter to Forestry and Land Scotland with its comments on the third proposal.
The EGM is set to be held in the committee room at Ardgay Public Hall next Tuesday, November 21, at 7pm. The meeting is open to members of the public.
