Rural development boost for projects

Projects in Yell and the West Side are among 83 in the Northern Isles which will benefit from £4 million in funding from the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP).

Rural secretary Richard Lochhead said the funding, from a nationwide programme of £34.6 million, was aimed at helping farming and rural businesses to improve their competitiveness, boost the economic recovery and tackle climate change.

In Burravoe, a grant of £57,000 will allow the Burravoe Pier Trust to create four serviced caravan plots along with a toilet, shower and laundry block. The trust was formed in 1990 and built a fishing pier in 1998, followed by a 24-berth marina and small boat slipway.

The new development will enhance those facilities and, it is hoped, provide the necessary infrastructure and services to benefit the community and improve the experience of visitors and tourists to Yell.

Another project to benefit will be Da Gairdins Environment Company, which has created a nature reserve and environmental area for the public on four crofts at Sand. An £18,670 grant will be used to improve visitor access by creating a turning area for visitors’ cars and upgrading a path running across the land and to manage wetland, species-rich grassland and open grazed grassland for the benefit of wildlife.

Across Scotland, the fund is providing almost £100 million for a whole range of different projects in rural areas, roughly £1.25 million of which is going to projects in the isles.