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Dog walkers land funding for forest purchase goal

BBC Two people out walking a dog through a forest with a large gree hillside in the distance and a frosty track under their feetBBC
Broughtonknowe Community Woodland has secured nearly £600,000 towards its purchase of a large area of forest

A community group set up by dog walkers in the Borders has landed nearly £600,000 towards buying a 56-hectare (140 acre) forest.

Broughtonknowe Community Woodland (BCW) will buy the site - which sits in a valley between Peebles and Biggar - to continue to use it as a green space and increase biodiversity.

The support from the Scottish Land Fund (SLF) is one of 10 grants across the country totalling nearly £2m.

Ian Brooke, who chairs BCW, said they were "absolutely delighted" with such a "substantial grant" towards their £900,000 project.

SLF A group of people stand waving and cheering outside a sandstone building with the nameplate The Annexe on itSLF
Annexe Communities will buy the building in Partick in Glasgow which they have been tenants in for the last 37 years

"The woodland has been used by local people for many years for recreation and wellbeing, and is a haven for wildlife, having been sympathetically managed by the current owner," he added.

"The local community have come together to support a community buyout and this investment will mean we will have more than three quarters of the cost of the purchase price and we will continue to appeal for the remaining balance leading to a spring 2025 purchase.

"Thank you to the SLF for its confidence in our plans and for recognising that this is a well-used, special place and with a community purchase, it will be protected for ever more."

Rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon said each group receiving SLF funding was an "example of people coming together to take really positive, practical action to create a place for others to come together and benefit the community".

The SLF's Cara Gillespie said it aimed to provide funding "targeted directly at local needs".

"The groups involved have developed strategic goals and clear ambitions about how these assets will help their localities to thrive," she added.

A white-walled village hotel and pub in the Scottish Borders with a sign outside advertising its facilities
Funding has been provided to help buy a historic hostelry in the Borders

In addition to the Broughton woodland purchase the other groups to benefit are:

  • Annexe Communities (£248,000) to buy the building in Partick in Glasgow which they have been tenants in for the last 37 years
  • Balmacara Community Trust (£162,130) to acquire the former Balmacara Campsite in Lochalsh
  • Aberfeldy Development Trust (£125,500) will buy two parcels of land on the site of an old slaughterhouse
  • Lamlash Community Hub (£121,500) to acquire the local parish church and hall
  • Morebattle Community Pub (£149,500) will buy the Templehall Inn in the Scottish Borders
  • The Oakbank Community Inn Sandbank (£147,411) will reopen the local pub and restaurant in Sandbank, Dunoon
  • Straiton Village Co-operative (£228,950) will purchase the Buck Café and House in the village of Straiton, South Ayrshire
  • Stromness Community Development Trust (£138,054) to buy the community centre and play park
  • Foggie Neuk (£59,017) will purchase the ground floor of the building it has occupied since 2020 in the main town square of Aberchirder, Aberdeenshire