new Colonsay house

Recommendations

· Iomairt aig an Oir
Colonsay is an Initiative at the Edge area. The purpose of this initiative is to bring public sector agencies together with the community and the private sector to develop partnership approaches to resolving the issues that threaten the sustainability of the community.

On Colonsay, one of the main issues is housing, and the solution to this issue will require co-operation and partnership between all the agencies that are partners in Iomairt aig an Oir with the local community and the Colonsay Estate. There is no one solution to the housing problems of Colonsay; rather there are several, all interlinked, and requiring financial and time commitments from all of the partners.

· Recommendations for Action
1. 4 new houses at Scalasaig built by a housing association with grant funding from Scottish Homes on land bought by Argyll & the Islands Enterprise. (Scottish Homes, Argyll & the Islands Enterprise, Lorn & the Isles Housing Association)

2. Up to 7 tenanted houses leased from Colonsay Estate by Argyll & Bute Council or purchased by Colonsay Community Development Company with tenant approval and improved with grant from Argyll & Bute Council. (Colonsay Community Development Company, Colonsay Estate, Argyll & Bute Council, HIE Community Land Unit)

3. 4 Rural Home Ownership Grants provided to enable islanders to buy their current homes from Colonsay Estate and build new houses. (Scottish Homes, Colonsay Estate)

4. 1 house bought by Colonsay Community Development Company to be let to incoming workers (Colonsay Community Development Company, Colonsay Estate)

Progress with the Housing Strategy
The recommendations for action were accepted by all the housing partners to the Initiative at the Edge; the community, Scottish Homes, Argyll & Bute Council and Argyll and the Isles Enterprise.

The first recommendation; 4 new houses built by West Highland Housing Association is currently being developed.

The houses will be built on a site adjacent to the existing housing association houses which was bought by the Community Land Unit from Colonsay Estate. This site will also locate 2 workshop units to encourage craft and other business development on the island.

The new houses are being designed by John Wilson Associates from Oban and will incorporate several energy saving measures suggested by the local community at consultation meetings. These include solar panels, extra thick wall insulation and southerly aspects with large glass areas to encourage passive solar gain.

The houses are also designed to fit with island life and incorporate large porches for wet outdoor clothes and shoes and stoves in the kitchen to provide heat. The houses are also designed to be flexible in the size of households which can be accommodated.

The houses will be built with two bedrooms on the ground floor, in two houses the upper floor will be developed to incorporate two further bedrooms whilst in the remaining two the upper floor will be left unfinished but expandable to meet the needs of a larger household. In this way it hoped that the houses will meet a variety of housing needs on the island at present and in the future.