They received funding from the Scottish Government’s Islands Programme and Highlands and Islands Enterprise for this project.
We spoke with their Development Officer, Mark Ratter, to see how they are getting on with the project.
‘Things are going really well with the Polycrubs – we started renting all four of the 4 x 6m sized ones out by the 1st May (with another 10 folk on the waiting list). Each Polycrub is used by one renter rather than being a shared space, however, if that renter wants to make arrangements with another household to share their Polycrub, then they can do that. The renters seem to be delighted with their Polycrubs and are growing a lot of stuff!'
The Muckle Polly is used as a storage space with an area for growing. Mark said, ‘The big Polycrub is working well, and we’re starting up a small tree project in the section with the transparent polycarbonate sheets. So, whilst there’s no specific shared community growing space, we are hoping to pot up these tree cuttings and bring them on as a volunteer project’.
‘We are also currently prepping an area for a number of allotments for shared and private outdoor community growing. These should be available to rent from next year. Folk can rent a Polycrub without committing to renting an allotment, and vice versa’.
Other parts of the project were the planting of 1000 trees, a small ‘park’ area with community accessible paths, picnic bench and park bench, and a bird hide which is due to be built this month. You can find out more about the project and CDCN on their website.
