AN AMBITOUS project to provide much needed business space in Staffin has received a fresh funding boost.
Staffin Community Trust has secured a £14,625 Community Led Local Development fund grant from Highland Council to support the construction of seven new workshops / business units at Staffin Harbour
The money will allow SCT to pay for legal work including leases with the prospective tenants for the premises which will be built this autumn and a management plan for the whole harbour. The funding will also help SCT with project officer and administration costs and the purchase of a donations box to help with management and maintenance and ensure the project's sustainability.
Earlier this year SCT constructed a new hardstanding area reclaiming land from the shore. It will provide space for boats to be lifted ashore for on-shore storage and maintenance and the business units. It will also provide the base for a harbour manager’s office, toilets, showers parking and fuel, which will be delivered in a later phase.
The project works were supported by the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and Marine Scotland Fund.
Councillor Ken Gowans, the chairman of the authority's economy and Infrastructure Committee, said more than 150 projects across the Highlands will benefit from the grants as well as Staffin. "This funding is essential to support grass roots economic regeneration, allowing communities to grow and develop new opportunities," he said.
Several expressions of interest have already been received in the new units.
The seven workshop kits will be delivered to Staffin next month and SCT has appointed experienced Ross-shire-contractor MH Steel and Groundworks to erect them. MH were on site last month to pour the concrete for the foundations which need to harden before the sheds are put up later this year.
Anybody interested in leasing premises can get in touch with SCT's harbour manger Lachie Gillies staffinharbourmanager@gmail.com
It is not a first come, first served basis. The premises will be fully advertised to the whole community before they are allocated.