December 2012 Issue 13
NCDC Directors and staff were very saddened to hear of the death of Drew Cromarty of Lochend.
We fight da slokkin o da light
Hello fae Greenbrae Cynthia and I are still busy with projects at the office here at Greenbrae, but we thought it was about time we gave you a peerie update on what we’re up to at the moment. Although the NCDC is concentrating on our three main priority themes of Social Enterprise/Business, Housing and Renewables, we have a number of other projects on the go. One such project is some research into Broadband. We’ve been hearing from folk here in Northmavine that faster broadband speeds would be very welcome, so we would urge you to fill out and return the survey included with this newsletter. If the results show a demand for improved broadband services, we’ll try to find ways to make it happen. Maree Hay
Amenities building open Thanks to a funding package from LEADER, HIE, Shetland Islands Council, Awards for All and the groups who use the Collafirth pier area, we’ve been able to construct and open an amenities building at the Collafirth pier. The building includes toilets, shower and laundry facilities. The facilities have been well used by folk with caravans and pier users over the summer and it’s also been a great asset to the social events held in the shed. We hope that the facilities will help encourage more water-based activity at Collafirth, especially for young folk. We would be glad to hear from anyone who is interested in taking part in, or helping to develop, more recreational activities at the pier.
Drew was a tremendous supporter of the NCDC from its’ inception until the very end of his life. We were particularly pleased to assist him with his plans to build Anniesland, the two social houses at North Roe; a tremendous legacy. We would like to record our thanks for all Drew’s input to the NCDC and pass on our sincere condolences to his wife Liz, son John Alex and family and his daughter, Ann Marie and her family.
Inside this issue: Update on Hillswick business hub New members please Hope for more Collafirth improvements NCDC on facebook Collafirth amenities building open Polycrubs selling well Book keeping services available Research continues into micro hydro project And more…………….
‘We’ve been hearing from folk here in Northmavine that faster broadband speeds would be very welcome, so we would urge you to fill out and return the survey included with this newsletter.’ 1
Hillswick business hub
Earlier this year we were out and about asking folk what they thought of the plans so far for the large derelict store at Hillswick. The consultation evenings were very positive and our thanks go to everyone that came along. We hope the building can be given a new lease of life and used as a business hub. The hub would include desk space for remote working, office space, a training area, tourist information and three small workshops. A number of new ideas came from the community consultation ,including the possibility of several businesses sharing a unit. One of the units could be used to provide services that might not be sustainable in Northmavine on a full-time basis, but
businesses could use and share the space for short periods each – a day a week for example. The ideas so far have been services like hairdressing, beauty therapy and relaxation therapies. We now hope to move into the detailed design stage of the project and have identified possible funding. An application to the Coastal Communities fund was unsuccessful, but we are in early discussions with alternative funders. We’d still like to hear from anyone who would like to work in the building, especially those who could remotely from a desk in the hub, so please contact us if this would be something you could benefit from.
‘We’d still like to hear from anyone who would like to work in the building, especially those who could work remotely from a desk in the hub’ Kaye Johnson, Heatherbrae, Ollaberry is the new secretary for the Ollaberry hall. Please contact Kaye from now on if you’d like to book the hall; telephone 01806 544377.
NCDC – YOUR company
The NCDC is YOUR company, so please get in touch if you have any suggestions or offers of help. We’re lucky that a number of volunteers already help us out, but we would welcome more . We’re also keen to hear your ideas for future development and would encourage you to get in touch – give us a phone, drop us an e-mail or call along the office at Greenbrae. We’re often out and about, so give us a phone first to check we’re in, but the kettle is always on !
New members welcomed
We’re keen to welcome new members to the NCDC. Membership is open to all full-time residents in the area over the age of 18 that share our aim to make Northmavine a better place to live, work in or visit. Being a member of the NCDC doesn’t mean any extra work for you – unless you want it to! By becoming a member you’ll be kept better informed of our latest projects. Membership would also give you a stronger voice within the organisation and you’ll be able to vote at our AGM. Because funding for community projects is becoming scarce, communities have to provide even more evidence that the projects we look to undertake are supported by the folk who live here. A simple method used by funders to look at whether this is the case or not, is the number of members each organisation has. We know that lots of you support the projects we have developed to date, but now we’d just like you to formalise that support a peerie bit. We want to give folk an opportunity to be more involved with NCDC and the work we do on your behalf. There’s still a lot of work to be done here and it would be a shame if we couldn’t access project funding just because we didn’t have enough signed up members. We’ve included a couple of membership forms with this newsletter , so please join us. Give us a phone if you need more forms.
‘We’re keen to welcome new members to the NCDC.’
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Polytunnels soiree and AGM
Last year we combined our AGM with a talk from Sarah McBurnie of Unst Regeneration Growers Enterprise about her experience of growing in polytunnels in Shetland. The event proved very popular and we’re planning to do something similar for our AGM this year. The amenities building at the Collafirth pier is a welcome extension to the large shed.
Hope for improvements at Collafirth Over the past few months we have been meeting with some of the users of the Collafirth pier to discuss ways of providing more berthing space for pleasure and business craft and how to improve facilities for boats. Ideally we would ask the SIC to extend the pier, or help provide a breakwater with a marina and landing area inside, but in the current financial climate we know that neither idea is feasible.
Christmas is approaching fast, so the AGM will be held in the New Year and details will be advertised soon. Please come along to hear how we’re doing at Greenbrae and enjoy a growers soiree over a cup of tea and a tabnab.
In the meantime we have been looking at cheaper, alterative ideas to improve things in the short to medium term until the funding landscape improves. In conjunction with the Collafirth Marina Users, we have developed a project to provide a robust pontoon to create more landing and berthing space and to NCDC—Nortmavine now provide metered refuelling facilities.
on facebook
Funding has been identified and an application by the Collafirth Users Association has passed the initial first stage. We had hoped to hear the Check out our NCDC – outcome of the second and final stage earlier this month, but a decision has Nortmavine facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/ been deferred until early 2013. Fingers crossed! NCDCNorthPolycrub—the Shetland polytunnel mavine/294249530594279 or just search for ‘NCDC – Our Polycrub kits have sold well this year and are now springing up all over Northmavine’ on facebook. Shetland and on the mainland. The kit, which is the ideal polytunnel for the Shetland weather, is sold through our trading arm, nortenergy. It’s a quick and easy way for us to keep you updated with Polycrubs are made from recycled salmon pipe and polycarbonate sheeting our latest news. We’d also and come in 3m and 4m widths and a range of lengths. Customers are really like you to use the page delighted with the structures and are growing a huge variety of fruit and veg in them. If you would like to find out more, pictures can be found on our facebook to get your views and ideas across to us. page – https://www.facebook.com/polycrub Or check out the website, www.nortenergy.co.uk and give us a phone at the office for more details.
NCDC—Northmavine now has a facebook page. Please ‘like’ us to keep up to date with latest news ‘Like’ the polycrub facebook page for pictures and information 3
Book keeping at your service Would you like help with your accounts? NCDC now provides a book keeping service for small and medium sized businesses at very reasonable rates. For further details please contact Cynthia or Maree at the office.
Twa Roes Micro Hydro As our core costs grant funding from Shetland Islands Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise tapers off, we need to look for more ways of generating income to allow us to continue and undertake projects. One possible solution could be the generation of electricity. Over the past year or so we have been looking at a possible micro hydro project at the Burn of Twa Roes, near the Collafirth Brig. Studies show that the burn has the prospect of sustaining a 25Kw micro scheme. Hydro schemes have been around for hundreds of years and are a proven technology. The impact on the environment is also negligible. The project has the potential to generate around £20,000 per annum from Feed in Tariff Scheme (FiTS) payments available at present. Projects receiving the FiTS payment cannot access public grant funding for the capital costs, and loan funding is proving difficult to access. During our local consultation meetings this year, we asked folk whether they would be willing to invest in the hydro scheme to help pay for the installation costs. The results were very positive and folk realise that in the current financial climate, if groups want to carry out projects, they will often need to provide the finance or labour themselves. This project still has a long way to go until we can tell whether it will come to fruition. We are currently working on the environmental details, the water extraction licence and the information needed for a planning application. Various options are being considered to help us with a grid connection . The micro hydro project could be a great opportunity for Northmavine, so the general feeling is that we must carry on with the various studies and surveys to see if we can make this happen. We’d ask anyone with an interest in the hydro project to get in touch with us at the office.
Funding at Greenbrae Contact details
Our funding support for core costs from Shetland Islands Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is tapering off now and will cease in 2013/14.
Project Officer—Maree Hay Admin Officer—Cynthia Poleson During this financial year we need to generate £32,000 of our own income to cover the cost of employing staff and pay for all the office costs. The financial independence we crave is a double-edged sword. On the plus side, it means NCDC that NCDC will have a secure future, but it can also mean that we have less Greenbrae time for things we need to do in the community – like newsletters! Slouth Collafirth Currently we generate income for the NCDC in a number of ways. We Ollaberry provide clerk services to the Northmaven Community Council and we compile Shetland the North Mainland Notes. We also lease the shop building to Hillswick Shop ZE2 9RX Ltd, rent out the house at Hillswick, provide letting agent services, undertake project management/development work and run our book-keeping service. Our trading arms, Hillswick Shop Ltd and nortenergy, also contribute. Telephone 01806 544222 or Mobile 07436 54 74 94 E-mail maree@northmavine.com
We’d also like to hear your ideas on how we might generate income. We would also like to thank the groups and individuals that have donated funds to help us this year. 4