1  We would like to refurbish Alan Stevenson House (ASH) to offer a locally inspired restaurant, bar with 6 ensuite rooms (1 disabled).  We would like to upgrade the Harbour with pontoons and seating/viewpoints to take in the wonderful natural environment and encourage people to come by boat to the site in the summer months.  Morton Boyd Hall (MBH) is an excellent multi purpose facility that just needs some upgrading and could complment any activities going on at the site.    The site at Hynish, with its heritage and special quality of place, has the opportunity to develop its local hospitality and develop something of a Hub for the southern end of the island.  Capturing tourism and events spend, alongside island/day visitor spend would provide a revenue stream.

2  The Skerryvore Shore Station was transferred to the Tiree community in January 25.  The transition has taken 3 years.  There are 3 income streams - Housing, Heritage and Business -  that will ensure it is a sustainable community organisation going forward.  We have been reviewing the use of our 20+ A listed buildings to ensure they are fit for purpose and revenue earning where possible.   ASH was first rebuilt in 1990 as a hostel type accomodation for groups with special needs.  it was only used for a few weeks in the summer months and was always a overhead for the charity.  MBH had been used to house the exhibition/museum but originally had been rebuilt as a multi purpose hall.  The harbour stands strong against the incredible tides and weather.  It is a viewpoint for sealife and birds.  The community when asked what they would like to see at the site in our survey and subsequent community events were clear that Business should be a priority.   84% said that they wanted a restaurant/cafe, quality accomodation and event space all year round.  They also wanted the Harbour preserved.  So our community mandate was clear.  We have piloted the restaurant and rooms over the past 2 years and now believe that it could definately work if we had a good standard of accomodation to offer and a multi purpose space for events.  We have moved the exhbition to another building to free up Morton Boyd Hall so that we have a this multi purpose facility.  We will then be able to work with community groups to put on a variety of events and functions during the year.  We will also be able to provide permanent employment for locals.

3  We can already see from our pilot that our community is very positive about the fact we have a local family working at ASH and have created year round employment for locals.  We have trialled a number of community events over last winter and they proved to be very popular.  The Tiree people just love the shore station and feel a strong sense of guardianship.  The pilot has also showed us that we could have a reasonable income stream from this.  We now have some facts and figures to base our projections on which gives us confidence this is the right way forward.  All the buildings at Hynish need to work and complement each other to ensure the "place" is kept in alignment.  The pilot has demonstrated that the restaurant/rooms/bar and events do contribute greatly to this.  The project would enhance the employment opportunities; keep a family with 3 children living on Tiree as they have jobs; provide the much needed income stream to ensure sustainability; reduce running costs; make the buildings all more energy efficient and in line with our aim to lower the carbon footprint and provice a place for people and business to floutish.

4  The project will start early in 2026 and be completed by November 2026.

What do you want to do?

Build a wet weather and indoor sports hall next to the Island playing fields at Garmony, near Craignure.

A healthy lifestyle is essential for the well being of a community. A core pillar of attaining health is access to physical activity. Over the past 20 years there has been a dramatic weather change on our island. Gone are the frosty days and snow covered mountains. During winters it rains most days and is often stormy. As a direct result of this sports participation on Mull has fallen away at an alarming rate. The proposed project is to construct a desperately needed Wet Weather Sports Hall. The project has significant support from throughout Mull. This was reinforced by active participation by our Community Council who submitted our application for full planning permission. This facility will be available for all to use. The Mull Rugby Club will be in full consultation with Sportscotland on a fair and equitable way to manage the facility. 

Why is your project needed?

There is no wet weather or indoor sports hall on Mull. As Mull is an island people cannot travel to facilities elsewhere without difficulty. They must be provided locally. 

Apart from greatly improving life on Mull this project will be invaluable to existing community sports groups, create opportunities for new organisations and, hopefully, re-establish some we have lost. Many events are organised at the Garmony playing fields but with the increase in inclement weather these often have to be cancelled on the day of the event. For example our island sports day has now been abandoned after many disruptions due to weather. It cannot proceed on wet grass. This was sole destroying for all involved. A cancellation causes great disruption to island life due to difficulties of communication as children are travelling by a variety of methods from up to 40 miles away and in different directions. With the hall this event could move inside if it was raining. The hall would also give our indoor athletes a suitable premises and allow them to have well catered home events on Mull. At last Mull would have a full sized basketball court and could, for the first time, play home games and join leagues. The facility would mean evening training for all sports could always go ahead no-matter the weather. Multiple badminton courts would provide an exciting and competitive space. It will even accommodate a tennis court for our keen players. It is heart breaking to record that the once very active Isle of Mull Football Association is no longer in existence. There is still a strong football presence on Mull and this facility will provide an indoor pitch giving an gateway to football participation in all weathers. And finally our own club, the Isle of Mull Rugby Club has seen a drastic decrease in player numbers over recent years. Training is almost always in wet, cold windy weather. This is disheartening for the players and leads to more injuries as the fitness to participate is diminished.

What positive changes will your project bring about?

This project will enrich life on the Island of Mull.

For the active participants the wet weather hall will provide a comfortable environment. This results in higher skill levels and increasing participation. For voluntary officials it will enhance achievement and remove the demoralising effect of bad weather. For communities it will encourage supporting roles and family involvement across all sports and leisure activities. The project also aligns with many lifestyle priorities. Well-being is improved. A tailored space protected from a hostile environment encourages diversity and inclusion for all. Try running a fun day in horizontal rain and our use of words becomes well chosen as only the hardy participate. Performance is improved across all age groups and skill levels leading to enhanced personal satisfaction.

It is highly probable that a project of this nature will encourage local families to stay on Mull and remove barriers to decisions on whether to move to our island. It is therefore considered that the project will have a positive impact on the population of our island. The Mull Community Council was unanimous in its support of the project.

By situating this project at Garmony it becomes part of a prooven sports destination. The Isle of Mull Rugby Sevens takes place at Garmony and this event has attracted teams from as far away as America with four figure attendances each year. Members and players of visiting teams and organisations will find the experience of using the facility highly rewarding.

How long will your project run for?

This project is stage three of the long term development of sports facilities at Garmony on the Isle of Mull.

Out of a need for playing facilities the Isle of Mull Rugby Club decided to embark on a long term development of sports facilities for the island. There were none available on Mull. An island survey by Tobermory High School selected Garmony as it was in a central position on Mull and was situated between the two main ferry terminals of Craignure and Fishnish.

Stage 1 Building a two pitch sports field from scratch on waste ground. Successfully completed.

Stage 2 Building changing rooms and community club house with kitchen. Successfully completed.

Stage 3 Building a wet weather facility. This objective was always planned but has become a matter of urgency in recent years. We project a start date and completion in 2026

The existing Garmony facilities are available for all to use. They also receive no revenue support and are fully self-supporting financially. We anticipate the same for Stage 3.

IDI has set aside an initial 25 acres of Cornabus Community Forest to deliver housing, a Community Orchard, Garden and allotments for the community. 

In 2021 we carried out extensive consultation on the proposed development site within the now community owned Cornabus Forest. Formerly a commercial Sitka Spruce plantation, the whole site will eventually be replanted with native broadleaf to replicate the Atlantic Rainforest once prevalent on Islay, delivering significant biodiversity benefits but also on the community wish list from the consultation was housing for young people, allotments, an orchard and forest trails and a garden areas. 

The project will endeavour to add social and environmental value to the site and also create a space for community members and groups to enjoy. In 2020 Islay lost it's well-known community garden at Islay House, due to the property being sold on the open market. This was a much loved and used community space. Although the site at Cornabus is not a walled garden, extensive research on other forest garden initiatives was carried out in 2022 - including visits to Royal Botanical Society managed forests and formal garden spaces, such as Benmore and Puck's Glen. The intention is to take some elements of the old community garden site and duplicate them and the new, with lots of additional features.

The project is highly ambitious, and the first stage of funding has been secured from Inspiring Scotland for development of the tree nursery site where we will grow the replacement trees.  Secondary funding has come from Carbon Neutral Islands, specifically to create some of the infrastructure and assist with a circular economy approach to fuel wood supply on the island at affordable rates. 

This is a lifetime legacy project that will create a destination for outdoor enjoyment but also offer a range of solutions to the socio-economic challenges that the island faces with a strong focus on becoming Carbon Neutral. Islay is in a housing crisis and the addition of 10 affordable houses will help address some of those issues. To ease pressure on the Grid, the project also comes with it’s own district heating system using the remaining Sitka Spruce on site as a fuel source, a wind turbine and solar panels.  

The finished project will deliver a host of positive benefits including but not limited to:

• Employment
• Affordable Housing
• Circular Economy approach/local fuel
• Community garden
• Allotments
• Carbon capture in new tree planting
• Significant destination space for locals and visitors alike.

The project will link into Argyll College, Islay High School, Youth Initiative and employability. Partners and funders will be Scottish Government – Rural and Islands Housing Fund, Argyll and Bute Council and National Lottery. Community group usage will be open to all groups on the island and will link into national networks such as Community Woodlands Association, Scottish Islands Federation and Community Tree Nursery Network.

Dunoon Community Development Trust wants to work with children and young people to design and develop a new skatepark facility in Dunoon that will better meet their needs and encourage increased outdoor activity and community connection.

Dunoon Skatepark is sited in Ardenslate, one of two areas in the town within the highest decile of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.  The original skatepark was campaigned for and developed by local young almost 20 years ago and its creation was a major achievement for those involved. It was well used for several years, however, the original steel structures and rough surfacing are no longer fit for purpose and levels of use have seriously declined. Some elements of the facility present a significant hazard, especially for learners, so there are very few younger users or family involvement. Local young people and young adults have been actively involved in campaigning for improvements to the skatepark gathering hundreds of signatures on their petition on Change.org  Recent engagement with school pupils has confirmed their interest in improved facilities for skating and wheeling on the site.

By developing this facility to better meet the needs of skateboarders, in-line skaters and BMX bikers of all abilities, we will be able to support and encourage children, young people and young adults to build their skills and enjoy peer-to-peer learning experiences. More time spent outdoors engaging in interesting physical activities will help to address the health and wellbeing challenges faced by young people and young adults and help to reduce social isolation.

This project will run for between 12 and 18 months including consultation, design, planning, permissions and construction.

The skatepark is situated on land owned by Argyll & Bute Council so it will be vital to work in partnership with them. Consultation will also involve local schools, Dunoon Community Council and Live Argyll youth work team.