PEOPLE from across Orkney will gather in Kirkwall on Tuesday to discuss the remarkable success of community buyouts in the islands.
Orkney has become a flagship for community ownership in Scotland with multiple projects on different island, supporting fragile rural communities. There are at least 16 community organisations owning 39 assets, with more in the pipeline.IT all started 26 years ago with a conference on Westray. The topics for discussion were familiar to many of Scotland’s rural and island communities – the weakAs a direct result of that first conference, Westray Development Trust was set up in 1999.
CLS development manager Linsay Chalmers said: “Orkney has become a community ownership hotspot with one of the highest rates in Scotland. “Administration and applying for funding is hard work and you need people who are good at that. You need people who have time and who will work hard.“The 900 KW turbine which creates an income and that income makes a huge difference for us, as we can afford staff. We still depend on volunteers and external funding is still very important, but the turbine income makes a huge difference."
“We want to meet and discuss how these projects have been so successful in Orkney, and the lessons learned from the superb work by the communities.”THE momentum for change and community development in Orkney continues. With help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust is working on converting the Old Pier Store in Rousay into a heritage display centre.
“Then we feel there is nothing that we can’t do. Make it a series of small goals and listen to what your community wants and needs, not what people elsewhere think you might want or might need.”We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
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