Executive Summary
Auchencairn is
a small village of some 100 houses and a population of around 500. This is
boosted by outlying properties and slow village expansion with the possible addition of 25 new
properties in the next few years. It has a thriving public house, the Smugglers Inn, a filling
station and car repair business, a school and a church.
The nearest town
Castle Douglas (8 miles) is a vibrant, traditional market-type town with the
usual facilities including a Tesco and a Co-Op Supermarket and many individual shops in the
main street selling meat, fish and game as well as vegetables. There is a thriving craft industry, a
brewery and several hotels.
In 2002 the Post
Office was threatened with closure when the landlord served notice on the
tenants in order to sell the property. The Auchencairn Initiative was asked by the Community
Council to save the Post Office and small shop. The Initiative raised the funds, purchased a
temporary building (portacabin) and obtained planning permission for 5 years to place the cabin
on the pub car park in the centre of the village. This planning approval will expire in March
2008. The Auchencairn Initiative became a Company Limited by Guarantee with Charitable
Status. There are presently 7 Directors.
The temporary nature
of the present arrangement leads naturally to a more permanent solution.
Thus the next Project is to fund the building of an Enterprise Centre to house the shop and Post
Office and another Enterprise. To ensure the economic success of such an enterprise the cost
to the management, whoever they may be, will be minimised by using grants and low cost loans
to acquire the land and build the property. Once built any business conducted within the
building will be the responsibility of the tenants. The Initiative will have no commercial
involvement. The Initiatives role will be, to the best of their ability, to ensure the needs and
desires of the Community are met.
The purpose of
this document is to show what the Enterprise Centre is expected to be and how
it will be used, managed and maintained.
The Initiative
have purchased a half acre brownfield site in the village one plot North (i.e. down
hill) of the public house. Planning permission has been obtained to build a substantial building
with a shop area of 50 sq m , a lettable area of another 42 sq m with a 3 bedroom apartment
above. There will be vehicular access to the off street car park for 8 cars. It will be heated by a
heat pump and be energy efficient to the latest standards.
Once funded and
built the property will be managed by the Auchencairn Initiative as landlords
but the businesses within the building will be the responsibility of the tenants. The Directors will
however be closely involved in the tenant vetting and assessment of proposed business plans
co-opting other professionals should the need arise.
It is envisaged
that the shop and post office (on the main street) will provide an adequate
income for the enthusiastic and innovative shopkeeper however the lettable area at the rear of
the building (with the view of the village burn) could provide a lucrative business site for the
hard working entrepreneur. Several options for this business are offered in this document
but
the list is not exhaustive. They include weaving/embroidery, architects business, mail order,
coffee/tea/bistro business, hairdressing salon and so on. The list is only limited by imagination
and size of the lettable area.
We have attempted
to address the management issues should the Initiative fail to recruit new
Directors and this will need further advice and research however the very nature of the
Community ownership should encourage others to join us once it can be shown that the project
is a success.
Note to the
reader: This entire document and supporting web site
(http://www.auchencairn.org.uk/centre) was produced by the Auchencairn Initiative as
a team effort, with each individual contribution included, more or less, as it was
submitted to the document editor. For this reason, prose style will vary from section to
section but we hope, still fully convey the intended message.
