We are thrilled to announce that the Gaeltec Buildings are now owned by the local community! The purchase completed on 24 October, and was made possible with funding from the Scottish Land Fund.
During several rounds of consultation with all of you, ambitious plans for the refurbishment of the buildings have been brought together on behalf of the community by Rural Design Architects. The buildings will undergo a phased refurbishment, to include loads of facilities and services that are important to us all: a community gym, tool library with workshop space, multi-use space, childcare facilities, units for small businesses and service providers and a shared workspace.
We’re very excited to steward the buildings and look forward to seeing lots of you coming through the doors and making the most of this important community asset in the coming months and years!
February 2026
As soon as the Gaeltec building purchase completed in October last year, we got straight on to submitting an application to Local Energy Scotland for the Scottish Government's Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) to add solar PV to the building. Solar PV was always part of the ongoing plans for the Gaeltec Community Hub, but getting started as soon as possible meant we could make use of funding available in 2025 and start contributing to Net Zero Scotland earlier - while also saving money on our electricity bills! We were successful in that funding bid, and the 30 panel array was installed and came online on 26 January 2026, and we welcome anyone in the Dunvegan and District community or from other community groups thinking of making an application to come along and take a look.
We are now a case study on the Local Energy Scotland website (takes you to an external website).
December 2025
In September 2025 we received Community-Led Local Development funding through the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub to begin to develop a tool library, which would in time find its home in the Gaeltec Community Hub. The funding allowed us to invest in tool library lending software, to commit to some capital purchases for the tool library and paid for some staff hours to develop the project further.
We are currently taking donations of tools, whether those are hand tools, power tools or tools for gardening, we just need them to be in good working order and they could become part of the Dunvegan Tool Library inventory. This would mean they would be part of a lending library of tools to support Dunvegan and District and the wider Skye community to resource share and to save money on tools and the cupboard space they take up! Get in touch through our facebook page or by email if you have any tools you would like to donate, or any questions about the tool library. Please look out for future updates, and we look forward to launching the Dunvegan Tool Library some time in 2027...
October 2025
We are thrilled to announce that the Gaeltec Buildings are now owned by the local community! The purchase completed on 24 October, and was made possible with funding from the Scottish Land Fund.
During several rounds of consultation with all of you, ambitious plans for the refurbishment of the buildings have been brought together on behalf of the community by Rural Design Architects. The buildings will undergo a phased refurbishment, to include loads of facilities and services that are important to us all: a community gym, tool library with workshop space, multi-use space, childcare facilities, units for small businesses and service providers and a shared workspace.
We’re very excited to steward the buildings and look forward to seeing lots of you coming through the doors and making the most of this important community asset in the coming months and years!
February 2025
The purchase of the Gaeltec Buildings has been an ongoing project for several months now. Gathering the required documents has been quite a slow process, and as 95% of the funding is being provided from the Scottish Land Fund and the building is being brought into community ownership, it is important that all risks to that investment are highlighted to try to minimise expensive surprises!
A significant amount of work has been done by everyone involved, and we are well on the way, however the final (and most complicated) sticking point is a single broken line on the title plan for the site. This turns out to be a title right for the property next door to that being bought, and is something that needs investigating and resolving in some way before the purchase can move forward.
The funding landscape is difficult at the moment, however we are making the changes we can to keep the project achievable, and to provide an exciting and sustainable hub for community activities and there is lots to feel positive about! With the support of the Scottish Land Fund and local architect firm Rural Design, the design of the refurbished building has been progressing, and we’ve been able to include all of the spaces we had hoped for. We’ve been sharing these plans with you at recent events, and they are now available to view at the link below. Planning permission for the change of use and addition of solar panels to the south-east facing roof was granted on 23 July 2024, and the designs are almost ready to be submitted in a building warrant application.
An exciting improvement to the buildings is all of the work DCT will be doing to improve their sustainability and to reduce the environmental impact the buildings have. We will be improving the efficiency of the buildings by improving the insulation, replacing most windows and doors and draft-proofing others, and replacing the lighting with LED fixtures. We are looking towards renewables, using air source heat pumps with radiators for heating, and installing a solar array along with battery storage. Mechanical ventilation will ensure that heat generated in the building is retained. The accessibility of the community hub is also really important to the Trust. From the plans, you can see that each main area of the two buildings has accessible facilities, but if there are any ways in which we can make the buildings user-friendly for everyone, please do let us know.
July 2024 - New Project Officer
We would like to welcome Bryony Anderson to the DCT team. Though a hydrogeologist by training, Bryony has worked in the community and cultural sectors for over fifteen years, starting off as an Oxfam steward at music festivals, then working as events manager for Manchester-based co-operative music imprint Debt Records and later at performing arts charity SEALL here on the Isle of Skye (where she has lived since 2017). Bryony now works alongside Dunvegan Community Trust as Project Officer for the Gaeltec Community Hub project where she is also part of the Tool Library working group. In addition to this she is a volunteer assistant at Skye & Lochalsh Archive Centre and part of a local textile art group creating works around marine ecology and climate change.
DCT are furthering an ambitious project to purchase and transform a local building into a multi-use community hub.
The Gaeltec Buildings at Lonmore, Dunvegan, once housed one of the largest employers in the area, manufacturing specialised electronic pressure measuring equipment. The building is now mostly unused apart from current tenants The Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company, and we are keen to bring them into community ownership and use them to further economic, environmental and social development in the area.
Following a well-received community consultation to gauge feedback for the project aims, DCT were successful in applying to Stage 1 of the Scottish Land Fund (SLF) to fund development works for the project. This included a building market valuation; building condition survey; specialised business and feasibility planning; and architectural support to produce concept designs, and a quantity surveyor to prepare two cost plans for the chosen concept design.
Following the submission of this work, DCT has also recently been awarded Stage 2 funding towards the purchase of the buildings, the refinement of the business plan and financial projections, and the production of a costed final design. We are currently negotiating the purchase of the buildings and working toward tight deadlines in the summer, to begin to secure funding for renovation costs, and to refine the architectural plans of the buildings, in order to maximise the space and ensure it is an asset that the community will benefit from for many years to come.
Based on the results of the original consultation, and the space within the buildings, we are hoping to include:
- Office space to rent
- Shared workspace
- Commercial space for the inherited tenant
- Smaller commercial spaces to rent
- Community Gym
- Facilities for Childcare
- Multi-use Community Space for craft workshops
- Community Space for Tool Library and repair workshop
April 2024 - Scottish Land Fund Success!
We have been successful in our application to the Scottish Land Fund for the purchase of the Gaeltec Buildings!
As part of the latest round of funding, DCT has been awarded £361,096 towards the purchase of the Gaeltec buildings and associated costs of conveyancing, insurance and project management. This is a key step towards community ownership and delivery of the project, though there is a long way to go! Keep your eyes peeled for more news, and email us if you would like to get involved to help deliver or inform specific aspects of the project, like the gym, repair shed/tool library, rental commercial space, or the biggest challenge- rural childcare facilities!
