Great Bernera gets fuel, shop boost

Work on a project which will boost the economy of a Hebridean offshore island is beginning next month (February) as contractors start construction of a filling station.

A related project will see the local shop refurbished and the post office resited opposite the petrol pumps in the village of Breaclete on the island of Great Bernera to create a facility which will both generate local income and save local people money.

This marks the culmination of up to three years of work for local shopkeeper and postmistress Aileen Hunt, the Great Bernera Community Association, and Western Isles Enterprise to bring together a variety of funding sources for the scheme.

The filling station will cost £104,800 and has won £66,646 in support from the Scottish Executive¹s Rural Petrol Station Scheme. WIE has supported the scheme with £23,154 for environmental renewal on the site. The remaining money is coming from Mrs Hunt¹s business which will operate the station while paying an agreed levy per litre of petrol sold to the community association in order to build up funds to maintain the facility in the future.

Mrs Hunt said the involvement of the association in the project had been crucial as it was far too big a scheme for a business to undertake on its own.

Work is also starting on the refurbishment of the Bernera Shop which has been run by Mrs Hunt since her father died in 1999. This project is costing a total of £42,000 and will see the village shop and off-licence refurbished and the local sub-post office incorporated into it. At present, the sub post office operates from a shed about 800 metres away. In the refurbished building, there will be much improved facilities for post office customers.

This project is getting £17,000 of support from WIE, along with loans of £10,000 from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and £5,000 from the local panel of the Prince¹s Scottish Youth Business Trust which recently extended its qualifying age limit to 30. The Highland Fund is also backing the scheme.

Local Councillor Norman A. Macdonald, said: "I am delighted that work is starting on this project after three years of hard work. It was clear from the Community Appraisal that this was a priority for the community and I would pay tribute to all those who have brought this to fruition, particularly Aileen herself. I am confident that these developments will be of major benefit to the local community."

WIE Chief Executive Donnie Macaulay said this was a vital example of how private enterprise, community groups and the enterprise network could work together to benefit people in an area with a fragile economy. Great Bernera is in an Iomairt aig an Oir (Initiative at the Edge) zone.

Mr Macaulay said it was essential for the prosperous future of the Islands that projects like this were supported and assisted to become successful.

A spokesperson for the local community association said: "We are grateful for the excellent support we have had from WIE, IaaO, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and the local councillor to bring this project together."

Against the overall trend for population decline, Great Bernera still has around 300 residents as it did 20 years ago. The local community centre, also in Breaclete, has been extended and developed twice in the last 10 years with WIE support. The centre attracts people from a wide area of the nearby Isle of Lewis to its events and includes a range of facilities, such as a museum, medical centre and fire station.

The overall development comes about following the community appraisal carried out three years in Great Bernera and nearby villages. This identified fuel supplies as a major local need  the nearest filling stations are around 20 miles away in Leurbost and Timsgarry and later studies indicated that local  people were spending as much as 17 per cent of their fuel costs on going to fill up their vehicles. The new station will have two pumps  one for diesel and one for unleaded petrol.

The new facility will be of particular benefit to those working locally in fishing and fish-farming as well as various local sevices. At least the equivalent of one part-time job is expected to be created by the existence of the petrol station and the expansion of the shop in addition to supporting the existing 1.5 jobs.