Both land purchases totalling 66 hectares (163 acres) of Ardochy Forest were funded in part by the Scottish Land Fund, via Forestry and Land Scotland’s Community Asset Transfer scheme. The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered in partnership by the National Lottery Community Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

The community-led project comprising Glengarry Community Woodlands, the Woodland Crofts Partnership, and the Communities Housing Trust will help improve the long-term sustainability of Glengarry. This issue is reflected across many rural Highland communities where access to affordable housing and jobs can be extremely limited.

Development of the croft and housing project followed a consultation process with the community who gave their input on the future of the land. Access to both housing and land were highlighted as important issues throughout the responses.

Glengarry Community Woodlands will now work with the Woodland Crofts Partnership to establish four new woodland crofts over 47 hectares (116 acres) of the forest.

In addition, the Communities Housing Trust will provide two new woodland crofts and four to six affordable homes over 19 hectares (47 acres), which will be a mix of tenures based on the needs of the local community: rental properties, homes for discounted sale, and croft housing. Any homes for sale will have discounts protected in perpetuity by the Rural Housing Burden, which also prioritises local communities in allocations, allowing control over future sales.

The crofts will similarly be protected to ensure their benefits are retained within the community upon any future change of occupation.

Chair of Glengarry Community Woodlands, Ross Lynn, said: “Glengarry Community Woodlands is delighted to be taking ownership of this land on behalf of the community, thanks to support from the Scottish Land Fund. We are looking forward to working in partnership with the Communities Housing Trust, and the Woodland Crofts Partnership to deliver the community’s plans for woodland crofts and affordable housing on the land, proposals that proved popular in our consultation meeting.

“This is a pivotal moment for Glengarry as this project will provide young people and families with much-needed opportunities to remain in the area and to generate income through the sustainable management of this local woodland.”

The community will work alongside the project partners to set the allocation criteria for the homes and crofts, with a focus on both addressing local needs alongside encouraging repopulation of the glen.

The new crofts will bring the total number of woodland crofts applied for or registered by community groups to 30, a significant proportion of all new crofts created in recent years.

Woodland crofts are crofts with sufficient tree cover overall to be considered woodland. Like any croft, they confer a mixture of rights and responsibilities on crofters, but based on management of the forest. The model can support both lifestyles and livelihoods, and has particular potential to deliver low-carbon living.

Main contractor for the Woodland Croft Partnership, Jamie McIntyre, said: “We’re delighted to see the land transfers needed to make this project a reality finally go through – it has been a long journey to get to this point. The approach pioneered here by GCW of working in partnership to deliver badly needed crofts is one which is transferable to other communities, and one which we hope will be taken up more widely. We’d also like to thank the Scottish Government for funding support in the development of this project”.

Ronnie MacRae, CEO of Communities Housing Trust, added: “This is a fantastic example of holistic rural development targeting regeneration and repopulation that will also benefit both the economy and the environment. It demonstrates positive land use and stewardship, and we’re delighted to be working with Glengarry Community Woodlands and the Woodland Crofts Partnership to take the project forward. A combination of genuinely affordable homes and woodland crofts, spearheaded by the local community, is a great model that other rural communities will be able to look to.”

The project’s next steps are to develop a forest design plan and masterplan for the land and to develop replicable legal templates for tenanted and owner-occupied croft models.

Forestry & Land Scotland chief executive, Simon Hodgson, commented: “As part of Scottish Government, our Community Asset Transfer Scheme is giving Scotland’s communities more opportunities to develop land-based projects that will deliver benefits such as job creation, skills development, income generation and improved amenity.

“With this latest completion, we look forward to seeing the development of crofts and affordable housing that will do much to revitalise and strengthen the local community.

“It’s another great example of how CATS helps communities make the best use of the national forests and land.”

Sandra Holmes, HIE’s head of community assets, said: “This innovative, community-led project is a great example of place-based development. The mix of tenures and new crofts will provide a range of opportunities to best meet local needs today and in the future. We particularly welcome the measures to keep these opportunities affordable in perpetuity. Our congratulations to Glengarry Community Woodlands and Communities Housing Trust in securing the land to enable this important development to progress.”