Creating new, fit-for-purpose recreation facilities for Portree and Braes
Quick Facts
Time frame: 2017 – Present
Funding: The Scottish Land Fund £53,655
Partners: The Portree Community Centre, The Highland Council
Project Background
In 2017 Fearann Eilean Iarmain estates offered Portree and Braes Community Trust the opportunity to purchase the King George V playing fields in Portree for the long term benefit of the community. You can read more about this here. Ownership will allow the trust to access funds to create more accessible and affordable facilities for recreation, sports, arts and events in the area and the Trust.
The Trust has been pursuing ownership since 2017 and the Trust’s offer to buy the land in 2024 was provisionally accepted by the estate. To date the Trust has secured £53,655 in grant funding towards this project. £37,000 of funds was also raised by the local community to support this key community land buy-out. The collective long term vision for the area includes:
- improving the drainage and lighting on the field to support increased use for sports and events
- building a new adventure playpark on the old swimming pool site
- creating a permanent pump track for wheeled sports on the site of the existing playpark
- creating a compact running or sprinting track on the field that would compliment other uses
- extending the community centre to create new toilets, changing rooms and a function suite overlooking the field
Once the land is in community ownership the trust can begin working in partnership with local user groups to fundraise for and deliver these projects. More information on the masterplan can be found here.