£2.2m in Highland grants to help fund rural homes and other community projects through SSE Renewables’ Highland Sustainable Development Fund
Almost £2.2m worth of renewables grants have been awarded to almost 20 community projects across the Highlands - ranging from new affordable homes to electric go-karts.
The awards in the latest round of grants from SSE Renewables’ Highland Sustainable Development Fund, range in size from £21k up to £800k in size.
And they include the replacement of the petrol-powered go-karts at the social enterprise Day 1’s track in Inverness. It received £107k to help fund their replacement with electric-powered ones instead
Other big winners included a number of rural communities who, between them, shared in separate grants totalling £380,000 to help pay for 41 new affordable and community-owned homes to be built in the likes of Applecross, Assynt, Scourie and Skye.
Applecross Community Company was one of those community recipients, receiving funding of £40,000 towards the construction of up to 16 affordable houses and four business units on a 2.3 hectare community-owned site. These will be powered by the group’s existing AppleJuice community-owned hydro-scheme.
Chris Ward, chair of the Applecross Community Company, said: “We are delighted that SSE Renewables’ Sustainable Development Fund continue to support us in tackling the affordable housing crisis in Applecross.
“The fund’s contribution to the planning and design costs of our new Sustainable Living in Applecross project kick-starts the development of community-owned affordable homes and business units which will help families stay within the area, provide opportunities for local enterprise, and contribute to our net zero ambitions.
“This builds on the fund’s support towards the construction of three all-access houses – An Toll Bàn – which were completed in 2022 and are tenanted by local residents in housing need. These were the first affordable homes to be built in Applecross for 18-years.”
Biggest grant winner this time round was the Highland Energy Efficiency Programme, delivered by Highland Council, which was awarded £800k which will help the programme to deliver energy efficiency in households across the region experiencing fuel poverty.
Initially funded with £1m from SSE Renewables in 2022, it has delivered improvements in 220 homes to date. The new funding will enable it to deliver to 160 more homes, including those in remote and rural locations where the costs of installations are often higher.
Councillor Raymond Bremner, leader of Highland Council, said: “This significant funding will support the most vulnerable households in the region, helping them to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
“The dedication of our Climate and Energy Team have been pivotal in attracting this crucial funding which underlines the importance of partnership working in addressing the challenging issues we face in the Highland region. I am delighted to see SSE Renewables' continued support of such a vital project.”
Lord McConnell, chair of the Sustainable Development Fund Panel, said: "Alongside an ageing population, depopulation is a major issue for many Highlands communities.
“A key factor driving people away is the lack of affordable housing for families and young skilled people in rural and remote areas. So our Panel has invested significantly in the development of new affordable homes, owned by local communities, to help turn this situation around.
“We have also invested in the provision of energy efficiency measures for households in extreme fuel poverty, reducing energy costs for current and future residents. Altogether we hope the awards made will support sustainable and thriving Highland communities into the future.”
Funding of £300,000, meanwhile, will sustain and expand education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), the energy transition, climate change, and enterprise for young people across the region.
This programme will be delivered by a collaboration of Young Enterprise Scotland, Highlands Science Skills Academy, and Primary Engineer. Importantly it will support the ongoing provision of state-of-the-art learning facilities – The Newton Rooms - in locations from Fort William to Thurso, as well as online learning for teachers and pupils and related enterprise competitions.
Awards totalling £170,000 were made to set up new community transport services or to enable existing services to switch to electric vehicles.
These include the purchase of EVs for home care workers at Boleskine Community Care, the purchase of an EV to establish a sustainable low carbon community transport service in the Garve area, and money for New Start Highland to buy such vehicles to support its work with the unemployed and homeless.
Morven Smith, head of community Investment at SSE, said: “SSE is proud to support these valuable projects and services that are being developed and delivered by communities across the region to meet their pressing needs. Without the clean green power generated by our onshore wind assets, this would not be possible.”
Elsewhere there were grants for the likes of Wick Development Trust and Caithness Voluntary Group, who received £60,000 each. The development trust will use the money to fund a new energy efficient reception building at the Wick River Campsite, while the voluntary group will use its £60k to fund a community development officer post over two years.
Other grants included £35,000 for the Association of Northern Trails Scotland for a pedestrian footbridge and people counters on the John O'Groats Trail at Loth Burn in Sutherland, and £20,510 for the Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust to employ a project officer to develop responsible tourism projects and promote rail travel for communities on the Far North Line.
Nairn River Enterprise meanwhile will receive a little over £47,000 to deliver a deliver a Net Zero Nairn environmental events and skills programme.
In all, 19 separate projects and community groups received awards across the Highlands.
