Rannoch Community Trust has been granted planning permission to develop an £830,000 community hub in a former outdoors centre and school.
The consent has been branded a “major milestone” as the trust now seeks to secure the remaining funding needed for the project.
It is proposed Rannoch Hub will feature a social enterprise café/bar, manager’s accommodation, office space, a meeting room, a new footbridge, outdoor seating area and a playpark.
The trust’s website states the hub - at Allt Mor Place, Kinloch Rannoch - will bring “much-needed facilities to both Rannoch’s residents and visitors alike”. Its aim is to be a self-sustaining community-owned initiative.
The hub will provide free business and leisure facilities to this remote Highland Perthshire community.
It will also provide employment opportunities with 10-12 full and part-time jobs as well as full-time management and voluntary roles.
The building is being designed by Perth-based Studio East Architects to be sustainable and “as energy efficient as possible”.
In July 2020 Perth and Kinross councillors voted to sell the former outdoors centre for £75,000 to Rannoch Community Trust to transform it into a multi-purpose facility for the community.
The trust was later awarded £134,660 from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Land Fund Award to cover the purchase of the building, legal expenses and essential repairs.
Ownership of the building and grounds was legally transferred from Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) to Rannoch Community Trust in July 2021.
The trust received £250,000 of funding from the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund. And in September 2022 PKC’s environment, infrastructure and economic development committee approved £308,000 of funding from Place Based Investment Programme to allow the project to start.
Originally built as the village school in 1840, it closed when a new school was opened in Kinloch Rannoch in 1965. In the 1980s it was transformed into a residential outdoors centre until Perth and Kinross Council deemed it “surplus to requirement” and closed it in 2019.
Now - following planning approval by PKC’s planning department - the centre looks set to get a new lease of life.
The Rannoch Community Trust posted the news on its Facebook page saying: “We are delighted to announce that we have now been granted planning permission for the development of Rannoch Hub.
“This marks a major milestone for the project and enables us to proceed in developing this asset for the Rannoch community.
“Our architect team at Studio East Architects are now working towards securing a building warrant which will allow us to put the construction project out to tender.
“Meanwhile Rannoch Community Trust are continuing to secure the remaining funding required to complete the project to the highest standards and provide state-of-the-art facilities for community use.”
Delighted Highland Perthshire councillor John Duff said: “That’s fantastic news. The Rannoch Hub development will be a game changer for Kinloch Rannoch. The former outdoor centre and grounds are in a great location and the approved project will give the community some much- needed and very welcome facilities plus employment opportunities. ”
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said: “We can confirm that the planning application for the Rannoch Hub was approved under delegated powers on September 21, 2022. This project will convert the former outdoor activity centre at Kinloch Rannoch into a new community hub.’’
