ALMOST 17,000 tonnes of rock has now been hauled from Lealt to Staffin Harbour, as the new hardstanding emerges.
Staffin Community Trust (SCT) is extending the previous small hardstanding to provide space for boats to be lifted ashore for on-shore storage and maintenance, the construction of seven new business units and it will also provide the base for a permanent harbour manager’s office, toilets, parking and fuel, which will be delivered in a later phase.
The community-led project, which is supported by the Marine Scotland Fund, saw material sourced and transported by HGVS for several weeks by main contractor G.F Job Ltd.
There are two large excavators now on site constructing the new hardstanding area, the armour protection and an anti-washout wall for the seven new business / boat sheds which will be erected later this year.
SCT’s environmental clerk of works, Nick Hodgetts, of Earlish, visits the site weekly and is happy with SCT's efforts to minimise the impact on wildlife and the nearby landscape designation to protect fossils.
The lorries and quarry equipment have been demobilised from Lealt and there won't be any blasts for the foreseeable future with the focus on the harbour site works.
SCT and G.F Job are very pleased with the quality and size of rock generated from the two blasts to date and thanks the community for their support during the work and short road closures. SCT is also grateful to SGRPID (The Department) for supporting the project and allowing Lealt to be opened up for this community project.
GF has done a very tidy job at the quarry,, and we thank them and their sub-contractors Eyre Plant Hire, of Kensaleyre, for their work at the harbour up to now. The Regeneration Capital Grant Fund has supported the Lealt and the harbour site works.
The 7 x storage / business units are on order and SCT is currently getting contractor prices for their installation. Three of them are 60m2 and four are 40m2. If anybody is interested in leasing premises at the harbour then please get in touch with SCT. You can email staffin.ldo@gmail.com or staffinharbourmanager@gmail.com
It is not a first come, first served basis. The premises will be fully advertised to the whole community in good time before they are allocated.
SCT also expects that the electricity connection to the harbour will go live in May.
SCT hopes to conclude the purchase of the harbour from Highland Council and the Department in the coming weeks and plans to hold a community event at a later date to mark that historic occasion.
Thank you to Robert MacInnes of OSH for the drone images.