THE Isle of Eigg celebrates its 25th community buyout anniversary next weekend.
The community of the Hebridean island bought it in 1997, and the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust manage the island on their behalf.
Secretary of the island’s heritage trust, Maggie Fyffe, said: “In the 1990s, the whole community suffered from the poor management and bad decisions of several private landlords.
“People were being threatened with eviction, there was no investment in any of the island buildings or infrastructure and we were all very worried. The news that we eventually raised, through private donation, the £1.5 million to buy the island was absolutely fantastic.
READ MORE: Exploring Killearn, a Scottish village where you know everybody's name
“Since then, it has been a huge amount of hard work and effort to do all that we have done – but it’s wonderful to see our children returning to the island to live and work and the global interest in all that our community has achieved.”
After the buyout, Eigg became the first place in the world to provide constant electricity from renewable wind, sun and hydro power.
The system was so successful, it is used as a model worldwide.
MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Kate Forbes, called the buyout “a remarkable testament to the resilience and vision of islanders”.
She said: “The island has become a hub of community enterprise and innovation and is home to a host of key endeavours.”
Within a year of the buyout, the community had built a new shop and cafe to cater for residents and visitors. The population of Eigg has even doubled in the 25 years to 110.
The island has been so successful that the original shop and café have been completely redeveloped after a £3m regeneration scheme. The new space includes a bigger cafe and shop, a craft shop, visitor facilities and office space.
Eigg created the Tree Nursery project in 2018, which aims to produce up to 20,000 native plants each year to be sold on the mainland and other islands.
The island plans to reach Net Zero by 2030.
READ MORE: Exploring Pitlochry, the gateway to the Highlands
Cafe owner and residents’ association chairperson Stuart Fergusson spoke of the island’s optimism despite a tourism lull during the pandemic. He credited the “vision and bravery” of the community to meet the challenges of the past few years.
He said: “If we fail, it’s our responsibility. But if we succeed in increasing the population, supporting local businesses to grow and thrive, protecting our natural and cultural heritage and attracting more visitors – then it’s our success and one we have worked hard to achieve.”
Eigg will celebrate the anniversary with a party on June 10 and a ceilidh on June 11.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel