'We don't think it's a good idea': Brora Community Council's concerns over well-advanced £3 million heritage hub and visitor centre project
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Clyne Heritage Society's ambitious £3 million project to transform a derelict but historic building in Brora into a heritage hub and visitor destination is being called into question.
Members of Brora Community Council have voiced concerns over the cost of the project, the length of time it is taking to achieve and the location of the planned new hub on the northern outskirts of the village, which it is feared will draw visitors away from the centre.
And they have indicated their reluctance to support the project with a £250,000 drawdown on offer from Gordonbush Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund to Brora and other communities for a “legacy project”.
Community Council secretary Sandy Crawford said bluntly at the group’s meeting last week: “I would be saying - we do not think it is a good idea, you cannot have this funding and there are better things to do with the money.”
Clyne Heritage Society currently runs a heritage centre out of a Highland Council owned building at Fascally.
The society was gifted the grade C listed, 160-year-old Old Clyne School in 2017 by Scottish and Southern Electricity (SSE), developers of Gordonbush Wind Farm, along with funding worth £1 million.
Since then the organisation has been fundraising to turn the building into a year-round community heritage centre and visitor destination with a cafe and shop. The plan is well advanced with planning consent in place, designs drawn up and the funding target almost, but not quite, achieved.
The discussion at last week’s community council meeting was sparked by a letter from a member of the public concerned about the amount of money involved in the Old Clyne School project and also by a query from ward councillor Lesley Ann Downie as to its progress.
Secretary Sandy Crawford said: “When they put up the new Hunters of Brora Woollen Mill that was done for £4.5 million to employ 70 people. It did not work out. This is over £3 million to employ 3-4 people. Also, people are going to drive right through Brora - they are not going to stop.”
Community councillor Diana Royce said: “In retrospect the community council should have objected to the planning application (for the renovation of Old Clyne School) at the beginning. I feel it is a hornet’s nest and would lead to major division if we were seen to impede the progress of this project now.
“The money was given to the heritage society rightly or wrongly and we have got no remit or control over what they do with the building or the money. If people in the village are upset about this, perhaps they should join the heritage society and complain.”
She continued: “If they want to go for the wind farm legacy money, it has to be our decision and I do not know as a community council that we can support it. It would have to have the support of the community - as a community council we have a dilemma."
Cllr Richard Gale told the meeting: “Is this something that is going to bring real benefit to Brora or not? You are representative of the community in Brora. If you have concerns about something that is going to happen in the community, you can form an opinion and say ‘we are against it’, or whatever. It will not necessarily change the outcome, but should be representative of what people in Brora want.”
Clyne Heritage Society chairman Nick Lindsay said: "Highland Council's Caithness and Sutherland Local Development Plan – which the Community Council was a statutory consultee and would have endorsed – has the Old Clyne School site identified as the only site in Brora for the new Clyne Heritage Society museum as one of its six placemaking priorities: 'Delivery of new Heritage Centre at the Old School building to replace the existing one at Upper Fascally'.
"We believe that we are located at the best site, indeed, a prime site, for us to operate a sustainable heritage business and major visitor attraction in Brora. We remain committed to our project, which we firmly believe will benefit the community of Brora and East Sutherland from social, educational, heritage and economic perspectives."
