There will be a short Service of Remembrance, to which everyone is invited, at the War Memorial on Sunday 13th November at 11.00. If you would like a lift down the Brae, please come to the Hall car park by 10.50 (there will also be the chance of a lift back UP the Brae afterwards!)

The Village Association will be serving tea, coffee, and home made biscuits in the Hall afterwards, and we hope you will be able to join us. There will be a collection for Help for Heroes.

Cow Park Steering Group

At the village meeting on the 8th October to discuss the possibility of a community purchase of the Cow Park, it was agreed by a substantial majority of those present that a Steering Group should be set up to examine the proposal in detail. The Group – Joe Watson, Aileen Howson, Keith Brockie, Linda Milne, Ros Grant and Tim Wheeldon – had its first meeting on Saturday 29th October.

Joe Watson writes:

In a pre-meeting, Sue and Fiona briefed us in more detail about the research carried out to date and reiterated the remit of the Group, established at the 8th October Meeting. This being:

To research the Feasibility of the proposal, identify and assess the associated risks and produce a Plan so that the Community can take an informed decision about the possibility of purchasing the Cow Park.

After discussion, it was agreed that the Plan should include:

• The identification, and likelihood, of possible funding opportunities from the various Agencies already identified, and any others;
• The identification and quantification of the work and management initially required to meet the requirements of SNH in relation to the status of the Cow Park as a Site of Special Scientific Interest ;
• The identification and quantification of the work and the on-going management needed, once the SNH requirements have been met, to maintain these requirements in the short to medium term;
• The options for the legal entity that could be set in place for the purchase and ongoing maintenance of the Cow Park.

The initial steps the Group will be taking are:

• To meet with Claire Martin from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, on the 10th November, at the Cow Park, to discuss funding options and other possible assistance;
• To meet with Peter McPhail from SNH in the next few weeks, to discuss funding options and other possible assistance;
• To meet with the consultant who is in the process of preparing a Management Plan for the Cow Park for SNH in the next few weeks, to discuss how the plan is progressing and arrange for him to meet with the rest of the Group to explain in more detail his proposals;
• To meet the Owners of Borland Farm, to discuss the principles and means of safe and effective bracken removal;
• To meet with the Owners of Letterellen to ascertain the extent of their boundaries adjacent to the Cow Park and to endeavour to ascertain the ownership of the land between the Cow Park and Letterellen.
• To review, in so far as this is possible, the previous legal Agreements and Rulings in relation to the Cow Park.
• To arrange a meeting with the Group behind the work done at Dun Coillich, near Coshieville, so that we may learn from their experience.

There is obviously a lot of work to be done but also a great deal of enthusiasm. The Group has arranged to meet again to assess progress on the 26th November.(ends)

Diary Dates

Apart from the Remembrance Day Service on the 13th, the next date for your diary is the Mulled Wine and Mince Pies gathering on Saturday 3rd December, from  3 – 5 pm in the Hall.