2025-07-31-accounts

Plockton & District Community Trust

Urras Coimhearsnachd Sgìre a’ Phluic

’ - Trustees Annual Report to 31 July 2025

1 Accounting Reference Date

This is our Trustees’ Report - covering the period from 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025.

2 Trustees and membership

The Board of Trustees during this reporting period has been:

Alaisdair Mackenzie Elected 30 October 2024 Vice chair Catherine Will Elected 25 September 2023 Mary Jane Campbell Elected 25 September 2023 Chair Sandra Holmes Elected 25 September 2023 Treasurer Alexander Mackenzie Elected 11 July 2022 David Skilling Elected 30 October 2024 Secretary Bill Taylor Elected 11 July 2022 Matt Jones* Elected 25 September 2023

*Matt Jones stepped down from the Board in May 2025

Membership : Our membership has increased by 20 members (14%) from last year. At 31 July 2025 we had the following members:

• 121 ordinary members

• 32 associate members

• 0 junior members

3 Activities and Projects:

3.1 Old Post Office

The purchase of the old Post Office was completed on 17 September 2024. Woodworm Treatment was carried out to the loft space and essential electrical works including the installation of a new Distribution Board, Smoke Detectors, Emergency Light and new sockets was carried out.

A section of the guttering on the front elevation fell during a storm and was replaced.

We are looking into replacing the door, window and skylight and are continuing to engage with Business Energy Scotland to look for support with energy costs and energy efficiency improvements.

The building continues to be occupied by Lochalsh Knitters for the sale of their produce and the Plockton Harbour CIC for the sale of newspapers.

We managed to obtain a more competitive electricity supplier which has greatly benefitted the occupants.

We remain frustrated in our attempts to build a small extension to provide a small storage space, toilet and tea making area due to the lack of funding available. Our Expression of Interest to the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund was not successful. This fund is highly competitive and typically prioritises larger-scale capital projects, which does not align closely with the scope of our proposal.

3.2 Community Lunch

The Community Lunch is going well. We have a regular attendance of between 15 and 22 each time, with visiting friends and relations joining on occasion. We run a raffle most times and this money goes to the Trust funds. The attendees enjoy the lunch and it is proving a valuable opportunity for people to come together on a regular basis. Whilst this is a social initiative rather than a fundraiser, the raffles have contributed a much needed £569 towards our running costs. Our thanks to Plockton Hotel for providing such a good lunch and at a reasonable price, thereby supporting the Trust and the community.

3.3 Paddock

We now have a signed, five-year lease agreement and, once our Risk Assessment and Insurance are in place, we plan to arrange events and enabling community access to this valuable green space.

3.4 SCOTO Workshop and Tourism Map

In August, we hosted an open meeting to review the interim findings of the SCOTO community-led tourism project. The final report, titled Press Pause , is available on our website. It reflects insights gathered from two earlier workshops attended by local tourism businesses and local organisations, focusing on what’s working and what’s not in local tourism. The report captures community perspectives and outlines a number of key recommendations. We are grateful to North Highland Initiative and Highland Coast Hotels for funding this initiative.

Following one of the key recommendations, we applied for funding in November to develop a local tourism map. We were awarded £2,500 by the North Highland Initiative and are now collaborating with Plockton & District Tourist Association, Plockton Harbour CIC, and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) to develop the map’s content.

3.5 Traffic & Tourism Plan

Traffic and parking have long been concerns for Plockton residents. In February 2024, we secured £15,000 from Highland Council’s Community Regeneration Fund to support the development of a Traffic and Tourism Plan.

The Press Pause report completes Phase 1 of this work, providing valuable context for the creation of a tender brief to commission consultants for a master plan. A draft brief was circulated to 21 local organisations and businesses for feedback.

The final draft brief is currently with Highland Council for comment. We are awaiting permission to issue it to consultants, as the work has not been completed within the original timeframe.

3.6 Short-Term Letting Control Area

The Trust has received very little in the way of updates or progress reports from Highland Council in this regard but it is understood from press reports that the Council, recognising that “no one size fits all”, agreed on 18 September 2025 to delegate to Area Committees the power to consider whether to progress with work to identify any future STLCA based on the available evidence (subject to

agreement by Environment & Infrastructure Committee). Where proposed areas are geographically close, consideration will be given to progressing these together.

The Trust will continue to engage with the Council to progress matters through the Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh Area Committee.

3.7 Lochalsh Place Plan

We continued to input to the Lochalsh Collaboration that is led by Kyle and Lochalsh Community Trust. We made the following comments regarding proposals for Plockton & District for consideration the Lochalsh Place Plan:

• Purchase of the Old Post Office in Plockton to retain it for community use

• Potential purchase of Plockton Airstrip to re-purpose the site for community benefit

• Support well planned affordable housing including exploring the site on the edge of Plockton High School shinty pitch while retaining useable space for sport and other leisure.

3.8 Plockton Airstrip

Following our Asset Transfer Request Expression of Interest in 2023, we maintained contact with Highland Council regarding their intension to lease or sell the airstrip.

In April, we met—alongside members of the Community Council and some residents—with an individual interested in forming a community of interest (pilots) to purchase the airstrip. We have since spoken with a private individual who has also expressed an interest. Furthermore, we’ve engaged with the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), who hold a right of pre-emption and are the beneficiary of a title burden that restricts the site’s use to that of an airfield.

We will hold a public meeting in August to consult with the community and establish if there is support to explore the benefits and viability of a community buyout of the airstrip.

3.9 Fundraising / Social Events

We have held the following fundraising events:

• A Halloween Party in the hall. This was well attended and raised £1,217 (income, not profit).

• As noted in a separate section, the Community Lunches contribute small, but regular amounts to the kitty.

These events have raised £1,786 in total. Several other ideas for fundraising had to be abandoned as they clashed with the many other local bodies trying to raise money.

3.10 Website and Logo

We continue to update the website with minutes of meetings and information on key projects. We have now decided on a logo, designed by Angie Campbell. This will appear on all future correspondence and promotion material. Thanks to Angie, and also the Bruce family for the continued use of ‘Plockton.com’ domain name.

4 Election of Trustees

Our governing document requires one third of elected trustees to retire at each AGM. Retiring Trustees are welcome to stand again for election. Alaisdair Mackenzie, Alexander Mackenzie and Bill Taylor will retire at our AGM on 27 October 2025.

With the retirement of Matt Jones in May , we have vacancies for up to five members. Nominations have been received from Kyla Orr, Bill Taylor, and Alexander Mackenzie.

5 Treasurer’s Report

Our accounts are prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis. A full copy of the draft accounts is available on our website.

During the reporting period, we recorded a net cash gain of £4,992. The majority of our income and expenditure relates to the purchase and improvement of the Old Post Office. This, and the SCOTO tourism workshop were primarily funded through grants, with fundraising covering the shortfalls.

As we currently have no regular income, we rely on donations and fundraising to meet our operating costs, which are kept to a minimum. Our annual running costs are approximately £850, covering insurance and website fees, plus any hall hire charges.

To support cash flow, we accepted an interest-free loan of £5,000 from a Trustee. We also received a £2,500 upfront payment for the tourism map project, which is yet to be commissioned. Additionally, £742 of our funds are restricted for the management and maintenance of the paddock.

At the end of the financial period, whilst are bank balance sits at £9,197, our free reserves are £955.

Summary Accounts to end July 2025: 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025

INCOME		£		EXPENDITURE		£
Donations	Highland Coast Hotels	500		Asset purchase	Old PO	92,112
Grants	Scottish Land Fund	89,992		Fundraising		600
	Highland Council	5,454		Payments relating to charitable activities	Lawn mower cover	59
	North Highland Initiative	2,500			SCOTO Press Pause	500
Fundraising	Halloween Party	1,217			Old PO	7,079
	Community Lunches	569			Insurance	637
Insurance claim	Old PO Gutter repair	973			Website	171
Loan	Trustee Loan	5,000			Hall hire	25
				Donation	Kyle Pool	30
		106,205				101,213
Opening balance 1/8/24		4,205
Income		106,205
Expenditure		-101,213
Closing balance 30/7/25		9,197

Ends