This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Gigha Islanders celebrate 'New Dawn'
15/03/2002
The title deeds of the Island of Gigha were today handed over to the island's new owners - the local community.
Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, Wendy Alexander, took part in the 'New Dawn' ceremony, which marked the legal completion of the process which saw the islanders pay £4m for the right to bring Gigha into community ownership.
£500,000 of the £4m total came from the Executive through Highlands and Islands Enterprise's Community Land Fund.
Ms Alexander said:
"This celebration here today is well justified. The Gigha islanders are to be applauded for the incredible amount of work that has gone into securing community ownership of their island.
"Far from shying away from making the difficult decisions, the community have, in an incredibly short space of time, demonstrated their willingness to make tough calls when needed. They have shown tremendous courage in taking on the enormous task of turning their community into a Development Trust in order to administer and develop the business opportunities the island has to offer.
"In breaking free from the constratints of landlord ownership the islanders have shown the desire and the vision to take control of their own futures. They now have the opportunity to drive the island forward, follow their own agenda and make decisions based on their in depth knowledge of their own island.
"The islanders are determined to make Gigha an economic success and, with the ongoing support of the Scottish Land Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Argyll and the Isles Enterprise, I am confident they will achieve their aim. I wish them every success."
The island went on the market in early August 2001, with an asking price of over £3.85 million.
The Islanders were awarded £3.5 million from the New Opportunities Scottish Land Fund toward the acquisition. To date, this is the largest grant that has been awarded by the NOSLF.
The NOFSLF grant has a set of conditions attached to it reflecting the particular circumstances of the sale and the Community is required to re-pay £200k of this award to NOFSLF within two years of the completion of the sale date.
Because of the extreme pressure of time involved it was recognised that the community could not realistically raise a cash contribution prior to making a bid for the island. The NOFSLF agreed that this contribution (minimum 5% or £200k) could be raised within an agreed timescale (two years). Also because the vendor wished to sell the island and its assets as a single lot it was necessary for the community to buy everything that was for sale in order to secure the resources they wanted.
Taking this into account and because it is normal practice for SLF to claw back the proceeds of sale of assets purchased with their grants, it is further expected that upon sale of certain assets on Gigha that NOF will recoup at least £800,000.