Democracy Spraffa

South Islay Development

Argyll and Bute Council · 3 May 2023
Back to Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group — 3 May 2023 and its agenda

Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.

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Page 1

SOUTH ISLAY
NEWS
SOUTH ISLAY DEVELOPMENT
March 2023
CONTRACTOR
SECURED FOR THE
South Islay Development are delighted to finally share the fantastic news that a
construction team has been appointed to begin work on Port Ellen Playing Fields! 
This is a huge achievement after many years of hard work by all SID Board
members and staff, both past and present, and we can’t wait to share more
updates as the building begins.
PORT ELLEN PLAYING FIELDS

Page 2

Port Ellen Playing Fields
Construction begins..
SID are excited that construction work is finally due to begin on the Playing Fields in May
2023!
The successful contractor is Hamilton based Procast, who are keen to expand their
community-based work. They will be responsible for both the community building and the
motorhome expansion, and joined onsite by locally based McEachern Bros.
SID would like to extend a big Thank You to the project funders at this point, all of whom
have continued to provide support despite numerous project delays. Funding has been
received from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, Visit Scotland’s
Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, The Glenmorangie
Company, the Scottish Government’s Rural & Island Communities Ideas into Action fund,
delivered by Inspiring Scotland, Argyll & Bute Council, the Scottish Government’s Islands
Infrastructure Fund, the Scottish Government’s Investing in Communities Fund, The Suez
Communities Trust, South Islay Trading Company, Elixir Distillers, the Scottish
Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), managed by Local
Energy Scotland, The Garfield Weston Foundation, and Islay Energy Trust.
Huge Thanks also for all the continued support shown by the community during this
process, especially when external factors have meant progress has been much slower than
originally planned. SID are looking forward to the next steps now and beginning the build.
An update on construction will be provided as soon as possible!
Drop Rosie an email at portelleplayingfields@gmail.com, or pop in and see us at the SID
office if you have any questions or queries.

Page 3

Ardbeg Islay single malt Scotch whisky established a £ 1million to support community
and environmental projects on Islay.
Working in cooperation South Islay Development (SID) and Ardbeg were delighted to
launch the Ardbeg All Islay Fund on the 30th of January 2023 inviting applications
from groups and projects right across the island. The fund will run over a 5-year
period with £200,000 per year to be allocated and distributed.
A series of open-day sessions were held in Port Ellen, Bowmore, Ballygrant and Port
Charlotte for the SID team to meet the community groups and give them an
opportunity to ask questions and become more informed about the fund.
SID has been delighted by the enthusiastic interest in the fund and has worked hard
to ensure due diligence was undertaken to ensure the process works for all parties,
including establishing an independent cross-Islay panel.
By the deadline on the 13th of March, there were 41 completed applications received
from projects spanning the whole of Islay. All applicants have had acknowledgements
of their applications.
Now for the hard work! All applications are being assessed next week and the SID
staff will then send all the applications to the independent panel. The panel meetings
will be held end of April with a provisional set for the beginning of May. The
successful applicants will be informed by the beginning of May at the latest.
Thanks for all the interest and support – this is a very exciting fund which will allow
many organisations to fulfil their ambitions for a wonderful community to flourish
and prosper.
We will continue regular updates as the Ardbeg All Islay Fund progresses.
Supporting Island-Wide Projects on Islay for a 5 year period
FANTASTIC
RESPONSE TO
THE NEW FUND

Page 4

Port Ellen Filling Station - Community Owned
Motorhome Service Point Online Booking
www.southislay.co.uk
NEW FUEL PUMPS!!
Port Ellen Filling Station would like to
thank the community for their patience
over the past couple of years while we
waited for our new pumps to be
installed. 
The Filling Station is still an attendant
service with the perks of the upgraded
staff back office controls. We would like
to urge all drivers to wait for our staff to
come and serve. 
The wait was significantly longer than
we first initiated but we got there in the
end and everyone is happy with the
results.  We are now all ready for the
busy season ahead.
A MASSIVE THANK YOU
to our funders and the community
for your continued support. 
Our Opening Hours Are
Monday - Saturday
8 am - 5:30 pm
Fuel - Parts - Air/Vacuum Services - JetWash
* New Confectionary In Stock *