The community in Uig would like the site of the former primary school in the village to be redeveloped to provide housing for the local community and/or key workers for the Isle of Skye.
Estimated Price
1750000
1. What do you want to do?
The community of Uig has expressed a desire for the former Uig primary school building to be redeveloped to provide affordable housing for the local community and/or key workers that are essential for the Isle of Skye. The Uig Community Trust previously commissioned Olli Blair architects to create plans for the site and they have produced a plan that develops the site into a three bedroom house and four other flats.
The goal is to secure a Community Asset Transfer to transfer the property from Highland Council ownership to the ownership of Uig Community Trust.
2. Why is the project important for your community?
Affordable housing provision is essential for Uig to thrive in the future. Many younger, local people on the Isle of Skye are compelled to leave the area, due to the lack of available housing. In addition, the lack of affordable housing also makes it difficult for the island to attract and retain key workers. There are very few potential development sites for housing in Uig. The primary school is the only available site that is in reasonable order. If the site is not redeveloped there is a risk that it will fall into disrepair. The site is also a local icon that is close to the hearts of all of the locals that were educated there before the school was closed.
3. What positive impact will your project have?
The first order positive impact of the redevelopment of the school will be the provision of five new dwellings in a community that only has around 220 dwellings at the current time. These homes will allow local people with young families and/or key workers to stay in the village or move to the village.
There are many second order benefits to the school redevelopment. Like many parts of Skye, the population profile in Uig is getting older. The ability to keep younger families in the area and attract key workers to the area will help to secure the working population in line with our Uig 2040 development plan. In addition, the redevelopment will provide the community with visible, tangible evidence that there is future development potential here. This project will provide hope that there is a positive future for the community.
4. What key milestones have you achieved so far and what will your next steps be?
A community engagement process was undertaken in December 2022 which showed universal community support for the proposed development of the primary school as housing. We are in the process of developing an updated business case for the redevelopment as part of a project plan. Thereafter we can obtain the necessary consents and quotes to apply for funding.
5. What is your anticipated start date/end date?
Our goal is to create a business case in Q2 2026. The hope is that consents, quotes and funding could be secured for work to start in late 2027 or 2028.
.png)
