Comhairle take sup cudgels to save Lews Castle 24/11/11
Western Isles Council is lobbying the Scottish Government to try and save a nearly £14 million rescue plan for the decaying Lews Castle in Stornoway.
A protracted ten-
It means that some £11 million of funding received so far may have to be handed back as the last piece of the finance jigsaw proves elusive.
The local authority says it does not necessarily need an extra grant as it is willing to divert future property rates income to pay back a loan if Finance Minister John Swinney would sanction the move.
Council leader Angus Campbell is now writing to Mr Swinney urging him to permit the local authority to plug the gap by raising a loan under the Scottish Government’s Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) scheme.
Upgrading the castle was previously considered viable by officials running the TIF initiative but it was knocked back when the funding round was announced last month, sparking accusation of central belt bias from the council.
This week the rescue plan received £4.6 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and a further £1 million from Highlands and Islands Enterprise to top up £4 million from the council and an anticipated £2 million or so from European funds in the next few weeks.
Angus Campbell said: “We are very close but we have a funding gap of about £1.6 million. Hopefully that is more likely to come along now that we have the rest of the funding confirmed in place.
He highlighted: “We are going back to the Scottish Government over the TIF rates revenue reinvestment scheme.
He pointed out: “This is not extra money we are asking for but the right to forgo the rates on this building and use that for the funding gap. If this project doesn’t go ahead then nobody is going to get any rates on it.”
“The £4.6 million from the HLF is an absolute godsend for us and the £1million from HIE on top of that now makes it a much more viable proposition.”
He added: “Now we have the rest of funding in place, the business case stacks up better and hopefully the Scottish Government will be sympathetic and allow us to go down that route.”