Plans for the community of Sleat to purchase key services in the area moves a step forward with the announcement that funding has been secured.

Sleat Community Trust in the south of Skye has been awarded funding of £280,000 from the Big Lottery Fund's Growing Community Assets programme. An additional £42,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) means that the Trust has secured all the funding needed to enable the community to take ownership of the ferry filling station, shop, vehicle repair workshop and the house.

The Skye Ferry Filling Station has been managed for almost 40 years by Donnie and Colleen MacKinnon who placed the business on the market following their retirement. The business will be retained in the area with the creation of new jobs, directly benefiting the 780 residents of Sleat. The Trust's future plans include developing the business with a much needed tourist information centre for the area.

Duncan MacInnes, chairman of the Sleat Community Trust, said: "This is the first major project for the Trust and we are delighted that these important assets might now be owned and run by the community. The Trust will also be more accessible to local people which we hope will encourage them to become active in community developments."

Hilary Campbell, community land advisor from HIE's Community Land Unit, said: "The filling station is in a prime location and very accessible to the public. The provision of a tourist information centre will benefit visitors to the local area and fulfill the community's shared aspiration to strengthen the local economy."

Sleat Community Trust was set up in 2003 to identify the needs and aspirations of local residents and lead the sustainable regeneration of the community. Several projects in progress include investigating the opportunity for a community buyout of a forest in Sleat, establishing a biomass company and looking at the possibility of a community-owned wind turbine.