Inchnadamph Lodge community buyout plan picks up pace
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An ambitious plan to stage a community buyout of Inchnadamph Lodge is moving ahead, North West Highlands Geopark has confirmed.
The geopark has just submitted a Stage I bid to the Scottish Land Fund for grant aid to investigate the feasibility of purchasing the historic former manse located on the eastern end of Loch Assynt, near Ardvreck Castle.
The aim is to turn the 12-bedroomed lodge, which has been independently run as a hostel, B&B and field centre for the last 30 years, into a community and geoscience hub.
Geopark chairman Iain Young said: “There is a risk that the lodge could be lost to the Earth Science community, but there is also a fantastic opportunity to bring it into community ownership for Assynt and create new benefits, capitalising on its unique value to Earth Science and its place in the Unesco Global Geopark.”
Owner Chris Rix, himself a geology graduate, put Inchnadamph Lodge and other buildings in its policies up for sale earlier this year with an asking price of £849,000. It remains on the open market.
The move rang alarm bells with geopark managers who feared it could lead to the loss of student accommodation in the area. The lodge is well used by geology students visiting the geopark.
A small, informal working group was formed which has raised funds from several UK universities, the Scottish Geology Trust and the geopark to explore the viability of community ownership for the lodge.
The group’s vision is to not just enable the field centre, which can host up to 45 people in its main building, to continue to be a vital hub for groups of Earth Science professionals and students, but to create a venue for community and cultural events, such as music festivals and conferences.
It is also envisaged that the lodge would provide an alternative event space for the geopark where it could create a new interpretative focal point and engage with local visitors.
Working group convener Brendan O Hanrahan said: “The building is ideally situated at the heart of the parish to host cultural events which would showcase the rich historical, musical and linguistic heritage of Assynt.
“It would complement rather than compete with existing venues in Assynt such as Lochinver Village Hall, the Mission, Elphin Hall and Glencanisp Lodge.
He added: “The Stage I application is a symbolic demonstration that this is a serious proposal and we are serious about pursuing it as far as we can.”
Stage I funding would pay for an independent valuation and survey of the lodge.
The group is set to launch a consultation exercise with the community and a presentation will be made to Assynt Community Council at its meeting next Thursday.
Informal discussions have already been held with Assynt Development Trust and other north west Highland community and cultural groups.
A fundraising drive has also been launched, although the hope is that the majority of money to purchase the lodge will come from the Scottish Land Fund.
The Scottish Geology Trust has set up a fundraising page and for information on how to make donations click here.
Mr O Hanrahan added: “The North West Highlands Geopark is not eligible to take the project to the full community buy-out stage. However the working group plan to either partner with an existing organisation in Assynt whose constitution meets SLF criteria or establish a new vehicle which would satisfy Stage 2 application requirements..”
A Category B building, the lodge was built in 1821 as a manse.