ARC plans for former Kingussie Highland Folk Museum will be aired on line
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Kingussie will stage a public meeting on Tuesday (June 23) into plans to regenerate the former Am Fasgadh buildings – but because of coronavirus restrictions, everyone will be staying at home.
The meeting will be held on Zoom and locals are being encouraged to get involved.
A consultation into the latest plans for a public buy-out of the buildings in Duke Street was launched last month and the latest ideas will be exchanged.
Campaigner Lydie Bocquillon said: “The re-imagining and re-purposing of the site will only happen if it benefits the local community, local people support the idea and that it is financially viable.”
The consultation is understood to have been highly successful in ascertaining local views on the best way forward for the campaign now more than a decade old.
It was in 2009 that a series of community consultations in Kingussie identified the regeneration of the one-time Highland Folk Museum site as the top priority for locals.
The finding proved to be the catalyst for the community to take more control over its future, and led to the formation of the Am Fasgadh Regeneration Company (Kingussie) Ltd in 2011 (ARC).
The relocation of the folk museum to Newtonmore, combined with a variety of other factors over recent years has negatively impacted on Kingussie as a place to live, work and visit.
The team of locals has long been looking at ways to redress the balance and bring the site into community use.
Gardeners were soon benefitting through the creation of highly popular allotments there.
MacRobert House, the telephone exchange building and the associated garden in Kingussie, formerly part of the Am Fasgadh site, have been identified as viable assets.
Project leaders want the area to be home to a ‘destination’ attraction and an important community gathering space.
At a well-attended earlier public meeting at the Iona Gallery there was strong support for the suggestion that Kingussie and Badenoch would benefit by the establishment of a community cinema.
A successful cinema society has already had two successful seasons in the Badenoch capital, with a wide variety of films enjoyed by the members.
Earlier this year ARC was successful in gaining funding from Scottish Land Fund to carry out a viability study into the site.
Tuesday’s event is being hosted by Community Enterprise Ltd.
Anyone who has registered can join the virtual discussion from 6.45pm for a 7pm start.
Registration can be made here
