New hall at heart of Highland village
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A STUNNING village hall built by the community for the community has opened its doors in Tomatin.
Only one year on from the start of construction The Strathdearn – part of an impressive £2.3 million project – has already started to welcome groups and visitors.
The project is a collaboration between the Tomatin and Moy communities and community company Strathdearn Community Developments.
Chairman of the development company Stan Falconer (67) said the drive and determination from residents to “future proof” the small village, best known for its whisky distillery, has been at the heart of delivering the project.
Boasting a 200-seater venue room or sports hall, flexible-use meeting rooms, office space, changing rooms and an impressive state-of-the-art kitchen The Strathdearn was built using a mixture of SSE and Eneco wind farm community funding along with a Social Investment Scotland loan, support from a local trust fund and money made available to the group through the UK government’s regional capital growth fund.
Mr Falconer said: “We wanted to do something in the village that would future-proof the area, and at the same time benefit the community. We want to increase the numbers of people who live in the village to help it thrive.
“A great number of groups use the centre such as a mother and toddler group, art groups and history groups as well as groups offering coffee mornings and lunches.
“We also want to encourage more people to use the centre for events such as parties, funerals and weddings.
“As well as the new community centre, we are also planning to have a restaurant and shop next door in the old Strathdearn Millennium Hall. It will be able to seat 44 people and will provide employment. Work started on that project this week, and we hope to have it up and running by spring.
“We also have plans for building affordable housing in the village and a paths network throughout the area between Tomatin and Moy.”
Mr Falconer worked for many years as a civil engineer and has developed many large scale projects.
“What we want is a project that is built to last and that will deliver for the whole community,” he said.
