Minutes ECC Directors meeting Thursday 29th Oct 2015, Edinbane Community Hall

Present: Alistair Danter, Stewart Whatley, Roddy Macfarlane, Peter Macrae, John Macrae, Izzy Nelson

Apologies: Aoife Gould, Norma Parker, Ian Brown, Mary Mackenzie, George Campbell, Roddy Gillies

Guests: Morven Taylor – Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCT) . Bob Paul – Edinbane Community Hall management committee rep.

  1. Minutes of last meeting 1st Oct ’15 – accepted – proposed Peter Macrae, seconded Roddy Macfarlane
  2. HSCT presentation (attached) main area of affordable housing demand highlighted by the survey is the “Home leaver” demographic category and the accommodation requirements of local businesses. Key problems are the high market price of local houses together with the high percentage of holiday homes in the area in comparison with Highland and Scottish averages. Meeting noted following points:
  3. ECC does not wish to become a Housing Landlord but would be interested in a form of “subcontracting” to HSCT or Skye & Lochalsh Housing Association provided that the accommodation is rented to local people.
  4. ECC is interested in pursuing the shared equity affordable housing model based on an initial renting period with a proportion of the rent going to create a deposit, in addition ECC is interested in pursuing the possibility of the provision of accommodation for local businesses with ECC providing the land that is leased to local businesses on which they build accommodation for their staff.
  5. ECC could facilitate the purchase of land by HSCT who then develop an appropriate scheme
  6. During the survey 2 local people came forward to HSCT stating that they had land and would be willing to consider making it available for affordable housing – meeting agreed to request HSCT to take this further and to identify the suitability of the sites on offer, the price and the model to which they would be most suited – ACTION AD
  7. Use of Community Hall toilets by public, in particular play park users. BP reported that the hall committee is in favour of the proposal however there are a number of issues to overcome related to access, cleaning, security of the rest of the building, “opening” times, signage and insurance. The option exists that one of the ladies toilets that has an outside wall could be made into a single toilet with exterior access, this would mean alterations internally to maintain sufficient ladies toilets in the hall. As a first step the meeting proposed asking a local architect to inspect the ladies toilet and see if the proposal would be feasible, if so to draw up plans. ACTION AD to contact Nick Thomson or Rural Design to see if he would be willing to have a look at the issue, noted that Nick has experience with community buildings.
  8. Vattenfall Film crew – to be invited for the week starting 23rd – subsequent to the meeting Vattenfall contacted ECC with apologies + requested following week starting 30th – agreed
  9. Updates – “JM’s slot”
  10. Playpark drainage – waiting for Craik Macrae to come back with proposal and price
  11. Remembrance event – Wreath has been delivered (now with SW). Meeting agreed to hold a “Community Remembrance Event” on Wed 11th at 11 am, similar to last years’ event, ACTION AD to put advertisement in WHFP. Need to find a piper SW to check if Farquhar Macdonald would be available, AD to check if Catherine Macfarlane would be available.
  12. North Skye Broadband issues – a project manager is about to be recruited, JM is now receiving updates and info from the group managing the project, he will continue to pas these on to ECC Directors. “Role out” for high speed broadband currently projected for early 2016.
  13. Footpaths – new licence agreement has been produced, Directors requested clarification on insurance clause as Landowners have to have public liability anyway + Directors were not clear as to how this would change – ACTION AD
  14. TEC service issues following on from AD’s meeting with TEC services + reported in last meeting minutes:

7.1They are willing to consider construction of a footpath running along side the main road from the Upper Edinbane turn off to Arnishort to meet up with the old road, this will however be at some time in 2016. They will give us a price, this may include repairs to the existing section from the Upper Edinbane Rd down to the village. This requires ECC to keep “pushing” + reminding TEC services in new budget year ACTION.

7.2They are happy for any landscaping / presentational infrastructures to be put into the layby at the head of the lock to improve its’ amenity value however it must be “understated” and not interfere with the hard surface area of the lay by in anyway. There may be some planning issues AD to discuss with Nick Thomson with a request to produce a “sketch” with approx. dimensions that can then be submitted to HC Planning for approval ACTION.

7.3The issue of moving the recycling bins would need to be discussed with the “Waste” wing of TEC services however roads would not be happy with them being moved to the layby by the campsite, the option suggested is the entrance area to Coishletter forest which may be owned by HC – TEC services will clarify the ownership + get back to us, This requires ECC to keep “pushing”ACTION.

  1. Date of AGM – Thursday 3rd Dec – ACTION AD to put ad in WHFP
  2. Paid employee – The number of projects that require constant attention is increasing with the added likelihood that funding applications will be required. Meeting agreed to consider a Job Description for a self employed part time individual to act as a local community development officer. ACTION AD to produce draft Job Description.
  3. Funding applications:

Billy Shanks Training grant to train staff to work on commercial Gas installations – total cost of training £ 1,765, request for £882 (50%) agreed

Primary School PTA application for support for 1 individual to attend P7 trip – total cost £270, amount request £250 (93%) agreed

  1. DONM – 26th Nov 7:30 Edinbane Community Hall.

HSCHT presentation

Edinbane Survey – Summary:

40 Responses, of which 1 online

196 sent out = 20.4% return rate

Highland Council demand:

Using all choices (applicants can select up to 10 choices)

40 Housing List

6 Transfer List

  • 12 homes are currently provided in Edinbane for social rented housing.
  • 20.8% more homes are owner occupied than the Scottish average
  • 13.6% of homes in Edinbane are holiday homes
  • There is significantly less rented accommodation available, both in the social rent sector and the private rented sector. This equates to 6% compared with 24.3% in Scotland.

The survey has not identified a large immediate housing need, although the support from the local businesses and the community backing is clear that in order to sustain and grow the community in the long term a wider range of housing options is required. This could include several different housing tenures such as self-build, rented homes, shared equity homes, community owned rented housing and open market homes. The table below provides information from the survey, which shows the current position.

Potential Housing Demand, identified in survey:

Table 11: Summary of potential housing demand

Estimated number of homes / Household size / Tenure / Timescale
Homes which do not meet current needs / 2 / 2 person
3 person / Open market or shared equity / Within 1 year
Within 5 years
Homes which will not meet needs in 5 years’ time / 2 / 4 person
5 person / Not specified / Not specified
Home leavers / 6 / unknown / Social rent, buying a home, buying shared equity and building / 2 – within 1 year
1 – within 3 years
3 – within 5 years
Potential returners / 1 / 2 person / Self build / Within 2 years
Estimated business needs / 6/7
4 or more / Bedsit/studio
Affordable self build
Community rented
Social rent
Low cost home ownership / 6/7 – now
4 or more - within 5 years
Highland Housing Register / 4 / 1 bed x 2
2 bed x 1
3 bed x 1 / Social rent / Unknown

CONCLUSIONS

The study clearly reveals a number of informative and important results which can be summarised as follows:

  • There isevidence from the survey responses thata locally generated demand for a range of additional affordable housing is required. There is evidence that if some options were provided, home leavers, businesses and returners to Edinbane could be accommodated which would in turn strengthen the local community.
  • There is evidence that more housing may be required over the next 5 years although this is difficult to quantify due to the time frame and some respondents either have not specified their preference or they have said that they would prefer to purchase a home on the open market. Open market sales could offer cross subsidy to support a mixed development of different tenure homes.
  • Of those who were looking at future housing solutions over the next 5 years, some were interested in self-build as a potential solution. This option may be the preferred option due to land possibly being available through the crofting ownership. This in itself is a way of providing affordable self build homes without a great deal of intervention.
  • The primary school was recently under the threat of closure and if its retention is vital to the community sustainability, then consideration should be given to attracting young families to settle in the community.
  • The population in the communityis dominated by older households, with the largest group being aged 45 to 64 years old. 20 people are aged over 65 years and this may present a need for housing suitable for older people in Edinbane.
  • There is a larger than average number of second or holiday homes in the community which is greater than the Highland average.
  • There is below (Scottish) average provision of social housing in the area. Although, this tends to be more common in crofting villages where homes are more spread out.
  • There are some households with school leavers who may wish to move out of the family home, which could possibly create a further demand for affordable homes if they decide to stay in the area.
  • The average house prices in the area based on current sales is £249,000, the lowest of which is £172,500 for a 2 bedroom home with a workshop/garage.
  • Some community members who care and support others by doing tasks such as shopping, providing transport and personal care, and without them, some older resident might have to leave the community.
  • Some of the local businesses have had to adapt their business model to accommodate housing for staff or to choose not to expand further due to the local constraints.
  • Two new businesses are being set up, one of which would consider offering apprenticeships.
  • The businesses who responded all supported the need for additional housing, as did the respondents.
  • The scale of current and imminent local affordable housing need uncovered by this study is evidence that if more affordable housing opportunities are provided in the future, this would to help to sustain people living in the community, to attract people to return, to encourage new people to settle there and to support local business and services.
  • The economic conditions have resulted in reduced affordable housing budgets and the grants available to Housing Associations and the Council to provide social housing have been reduced from previous levels. Therefore, it is difficult to provide affordable housing to be provided through this route alone. However, a partnership approach may have some merit and HSCHT will consider facilitating this to explore the options in more detail (subject to support from the ECC).

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Discuss the report in detail with ECC to identify possible areas for further investigation.
  • Agree perimeters with the ECC e.g. a strategy to retain the local school.
  • Create a housing strategy to establish a clear way forward for delivering new homes, if this is required by the ECC.
  • If the community wishes to progress their own housing, identify potential development opportunities in the area by exploring the viability of all local sites by carrying out a desktop feasibility study for each available site. Analyse the results and decide upon the best sites to consider for further investigation and possibly future development. Consider the land costs, build costs, fees, access, drainage, utilities, potential house sizes and design and the funding options available at the time.
  • Explore potential partnership working options with local businesses to accommodate their needs.
  • Explore potential partnerships with other organisations which may provide multi-community benefits. e.g. long-term school provision, elderly needs, opportunities to provide housing and jobs for younger people.
  • Investigate options to provide elderly housing, via a “swap shop” where larger properties can be released to younger families and older people access suitable homes.
  • Consider development opportunities which can be developed over several years in order to satisfy long term community needs and aspirations e.g. business development, population growth, greater provision of facilities and services.