This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Cuillin could be gifted to the nation
09/07/2003
First Minister Jack McConnell has welcomed the prospect
of the Cuillin in Skye being gifted to the Scottish people,
and the related prospect of Dunvegan Castle being
transferred to a charitable trust.
He said:
"The Cuillin and Dunvegan Castle are internationally
recognisable parts of Scotland's heritage. If the future of
both the mountains and the castle can be secured in the way
proposed, this will be good for Scotland and I've asked Jim
Hunter and his colleagues at Highlands and Islands
Enterprise to aid the process in any way that they
can."
Mr McConnell was responding to the statement from HIE
that John MacLeod of MacLeod, owner of the Cuillin, was
exploring the possibility of handing it over to the people
of Scotland. The talks also involved Highland Council in
association with the John Muir Trust.
HIE said that if agreement was reached Mr MacLeod, chief
of Clan MacLeod, may also transfer his ownership of
Dunvegan Castle, the residence of the MacLeod chiefs for
800 years, to a charitable trust that would be responsible
for raising the funds needed to repair and refurbish the
castle.
HIE, in collaboration with the MacLeod Estate, is now
taking steps to establish the cost of a castle
refurbishment programme.
These costs are estimated to be in excess of £10
million and funding contributions are likely to be sought
from a range of heritage bodies.
Parts of the Cuillin already belong to the John Muir
Trust, a conservation charity, and other neighbouring land
belongs to the Scottish Executive's agricultural department
and to Forest Enterprise, another public body.
Mr MacLeod's willingness to gift the central part of the
mountain range to the nation would open up the prospect of
managing the entire Cuillin range in the public interest,
and in accordance with agreed environmental guidelines, by
organisations committed to community involvement, and
pledged to provide the widest possible public access.
Management structures for a nationally-owned Cuillin,
involving community, natural heritage and national
interests, will take shape only after wide consultation in
Skye and beyond.
HIE said that should John MacLeod's gift of the
mountains go ahead, the Cuillin will have less in common
with British-style national parks - which, despite their
designation, remain in a variety of private ownerships -
than with parks of the sort common in countries like the
United States and Canada, which, together with the
mountains, lakes and other features they contain, belong to
their respective nations.
John MacLeod of MacLeod said:
"If the Cuillin and the castle can be transformed into
national assets in this way, I shall be delighted. I should
be giving up properties which have been associated with my
family for many centuries, and that is not at all easy.
But the possibilities I am now discussing with HIE and
with Highland Council seem to me to hold out an excellent
prospect of securing the long-term future of the Cuillin,
and of Dunvegan Castle, in a manner that could bring real
and enduring benefits both to Skye and to Scotland."
HIE chairman Dr James Hunter said:
"We have some way to go before we'll be certain what it
will cost to refurbish Dunvegan Castle, and we have still
further to go before we'll be clear as to the sources of
the necessary finance.
"But we are committed to taking this initiative forward.
Dunvegan Castle is of importance historically and, as a
visitor attraction, it's of huge importance economically to
the Dunvegan community, indeed to Skye as a whole. Of even
greater importance, however, are the Cuillin. We've been
given the opportunity to obtain the Cuillin for the
Scottish people, and that's an opportunity neither we nor
Scotland can afford to miss."
Highland Council Convener Alison Magee said:
"I am confident the people of Skye will warmly support
these proposals to secure the future of two of the island's
key assets, which provide so much enjoyment for people from
throughout the world. We will be working closely with our
partners to ensure these exciting plans come to
fruition."
Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise chairman Muriel Jones,
said:
"Both the Cuillin and Dunvegan Castle are important
parts of the island's heritage. The new proposals would
form an exciting and, I believe, achievable means of
protecting these valuable assets and preserving them for
the people of Skye and Scotland, both now and in the
future."
John Muir Trust director Nigel Hawkins said:
"The John Muir Trust welcomes the prospect of a public
interest solution which will safeguard the future of the
main ridge of the Cuillin whilst ensuring the future of
Dunvegan Castle as a major tourist attraction for Skye.
"The Trust has already made a major commitment to Skye
through its ownership of three estates, Strathaird, Torrin
and Sconser all in the area of the Cuillin and containing
some of its finest mountains. The Trust involves local
people in the management of all its properties and is
committed to open public access.
"We look forward to working with other parties to ensure
that the interests of the people of Skye are fully taken
into account and that wider national interests in the
Cuillin as Britain's finest mountain range are also
recognised."
Councillor Drew Millar, Ceannaire of Highland Council's
Skye and Lochalsh Area Committee, said:
"To many people, the Cuillin represent the heart of Skye
and the mountains have been an inspiration to climbers,
poets, songwriters and authors for centuries. It is
entirely fitting that the Cuillin, which gives the island
so much of its character, should be brought into public
ownership."