Skye community representative joins our board

Local resident and community representative Hermione Lamond joins our board of Trustees for a year to focus on the Reimagining Strathaird project. 

Hermione Lamond from Glasnakille is to join the working group established to advise the John Muir Trust’s Reimagining Strathaird project, with the next phase of community consultation confirmed for 25 January 2023.  

The Trust is exploring how the Strathaird site it manages in southern Skye can be developed as part of a collaborative project with local residents and businesses, while supporting the Trust to deliver its objectives as a wild places charity.

The next community consultation on the project will be held in Elgol Village Hall on 25 January 2023, from 4pm to 8pm. The focus of this meeting will be to share the recommendations for the site that have been developed so far, including ideas and feedback from the initial community consultations in August 2022. 

Elgol shop owner Hermione Lamond, from Glasnakille, has joined the working group - responsible for providing guidance and advice to the Reimagining Strathaird project, and acting as the link between the project team, responsible for delivering the project, and the John Muir Trust’s Board of Trustees - who will make the final decisions on what plans to take forward on the site.  

“I’m delighted to be involved with the prospect of an exciting project that will hopefully be very positive for our community and its future,” said Hermione.

Hermione applied for the position of the Strathaird Community Representative on the working group after it was advertised locally. As part of the position, Hermione becomes a full member of the John Muir Trust Board for one year.

“We were really pleased to have four applications from the community and want to sincerely thank everyone who expressed an interest in being part of this project,” said Jane Smallman, Chair of the John Muir Trust Board of Trustees.  

The focus of the project is the Strathaird site which currently hosts a disused fish hatchery, several underutilised buildings, and a former church building. A positive local turnout shared their views on potential development opportunities for the area in a series of community consultations held in August 2022. There was a focus on sharing innovative solutions that address both global environmental crises and local issues.

A group of independent consultants, several of whom are based on Skye, have now produced a report that captures these ideas and explores which ones are feasible for the site. This will be the focus of the next community consultations in January 2023.

The working group will provide advice and comment on this feasibility report, before it is finalised and shared with the John Muir Trust Board to make final decisions and take them forward.

• Find out more about our work on Skye.
• Visit the Strathaird project microsite.

Photo shows disused fish hatchery buildings at Strathaird on Skye.