‘A TRAILBLAZING Wester Ross regeneration project has won international recognition and been hailed a template others can follow.
The success of the Achtercairn site in Gairloch – aiming to tackle depopulation, declining services and lack of affordable homes and business premises – has won international recognition at the European Responsible Housing Awards, part of the International Social Housing Festival in Helsinki.
The annual awards are organised by Housing Europe to showcase outstanding examples from social and affordable housing providers across Europe.
The community-led project won the ‘More Than A Roof’ category and is seen as a solution for people priced out of the market by soaring demand for second homes and holiday lets as well as a way to rejuvenate communities.
Ronnie MacRae, chief executive of the Communities Housing Trust, the charity which led the project, accepted the award for a project which impressed judges as “a good model and inspiration for other villages” already being adapted elsewhere.
Local residents and 50 partner organisations turned a derelict site into a thriving new geographic centre for the village.
Achtercairn now includes 25 homes with five different affordable tenures; Gairloch Farm Shop, which also houses a vet clinic; an Air Training Corps facility; and the GALE Centre, Scotland’s first public building to be awarded Passivhaus status.’ – Ross-shire Journal
