Newsletter: Summer 2026

Rosemarkie Caravan Site – Expression of Interest

The outcome: The Highland Council dismissed our Expression of Interest (EoI) in relation to a potential community asset transfer of the caravan park. This was due to the advanced state of negotiations following the public consultation, between the two main parties involved, which limited the window available to restructure the transfer framework without financial detriment to the Common Good fund. An EoI, while not a statutory part of the process, was intended to start a dialogue with Highland Council over future community ownership.

A major factor was the immediate and critical need to secure additional funding for extensive shoreline maintenance to protect the coastal area of Fortrose and Rosemarkie, which was achieved by the Highland Council through a significant increase in annual rent. Managing the immediate and long-term coastal erosion risks requires a level of consistent revenue funding that could not be guaranteed within the Council's tight transactional timeline.

Rosemarkie Caravan Site – Looking Ahead

We are still waiting the publication of the contract to enable us to determine how we may move forward. We are told this will be published by the Registers of Scotland once it has cleared the Sheriff Court.

For now, we are looking to engage with Nairn and Dornoch Community Councils who both experience coastal erosion issues and likewise they own the shore / foreshore within the Common Good Register. Their funds remain open, despite our own being closed, and this is an issue which we will explore with the Community Council and Highland Council.

We remain entirely committed to preserving and enhancing our village's assets and we are already exploring alternative projects that align with our long term social and economic goals.

Fortrose Academy and Developing Young Workforce Team.

We are excited to announce new collaborative opportunities aimed at enhancing local assets and knowledge.

Our local academy has an outstanding teaching reputation for the successful delivery of nurturing young talent through the Young Enterprise Company Programme. In 2025 our young people and their outstanding teaching mentors won the overall UK company of the year and the regional Highland and Moray Company of the Year, which culminated in representing the UK at the JA Europe Finals in Athens.

We have agreed to work in partnership with their senior leadership team, Developing Young Workforce lead, and students with a pilot project for the academic year 2026 /27 to understand how local community groups can work with

students and academy resources to develop the skills of our future young workforce, through the delivery of tangible local projects.

We are now developing a pilot assignment linked to the core workstream of the National 5 Business Management Course for students within S3/4.

The project will be supported through inter disciplinary learning with us and reaching out into the wider business community whilst exploring the multiple aspects of the business modules.

The project will be focused on assessing the potential business opportunity, for a local Community Asset Company to acquire the Fortrose Town Hall, which is a Common Good Asset, and determining how this may align with the key themes of the Black Isle Plan .

Governance and Empowering the Community

To ensure that the CIC is best equipped for the future, we are working closely with The Impact Hub to modify our Articles of Association. These changes aim to improve local Director’s tenure to encourage fresh perspectives and strong leadership.

You may wonder why we chose a CIC over another company structure. This is because CICs are separately regulated and have an asset lock to ensure that assets and funds cannot be misused and are solely for the benefit of the community i.e. monies cannot be diverted to other causes.

A model CIC is run like a traditional business. To ensure that the CIC is best equipped for the future we have been working with the third sector support services and other local expert residents to modify our articles, to ensure that we get the balance right. These changes aim to make the operation of the CIC more democratic and ensure decision making is transparent, made by the community and all benefits go back to the agreed community projects.

We remain open to working closely with other Community Organisations within the village and wider Black Isle to ensure that we do not duplicate projects, resources and ensure that we optimise the skills available to the Community.

We will share further updates on our progress as these initiatives move forward.