Tiree Trust

The application will be considered at the Big Lottery Fund Growing Community Assets assessment board meeting on May 14th at which time a decision will be made as to whether the application should be approved.

The proposal is a five year plan designed to support the operational costs of the Trust while establishing a revenue stream for the community through the sale of electricity generated by a community wind turbine.

The application includes: -

a) Community Consultation Document:

This gives details of the process of community consultation since the Tiree Development Partnership began work in 2003. All feedback, information and reports collected through the process have been gathered together into a single document to demonstrate the community’s needs and aspirations.

b) Trust Core Activities – Five Year Operational Plan:

This gives details and costs of running the Trust for five years from 1st January 2008 including running an office, managing the Trust’s work, employing staff and attending to the company business.

c) Community Wind Turbine Project – Business Plan:

This gives details of the pre-development work carried out to date, the implementation strategy and the projected costs of delivering a wind turbine on the Ruaig Sliabh.

Every BLF application for Growing Community Assets funding has to be based on proposed ‘Outcomes’ i.e. how the grant requested will benefit the community in the long run. These 'Outcomes' have to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time based).

The Trust's application is based around three proposed Smart Outcomes as follows: -

1. Tiree's community will become more confident and self reliant through generating and investing its own revenue surpluses in locally prioritised development projects.

2. Tiree’s community population will stabilise then grow sustainably by 2017.

3. 20 voluntary organisations, vital to delivering projects, will have skills, knowledge and capacity increased by 2012 Although figures in the application are still projected rather than absolute the total forecasted cost of the project is £1,773,051 with a request going to the Big Lottery Fund for £886,259

A draft application has been submitted Highlands and Islands Enterprise to begin the assessment process. HIE will now scrutinize the application and work with the Trust on any changes required before recommending the project to the Big Lottery Fund Growing Community Assets assessment board.