Price agreed for proposed community buyout at Scotland's highest village

Joint valuation of nearly £1.5m has been put on almost 4,000 acres of land around Wanlockhead.

A price has been agreed for a proposed community buyout at Scotland's highest village, according to reports.

Earlier this month, residents in the village of Wanlockhead voted in favour of taking forward the buyout bid.

The BBC reports that a joint valuation of nearly £1.5m has now been put on almost 4,000 acres of land around Wanlockhead.

The village of Wanlockhead. Photo: Wanlockhead Community Trust

The community of Wanlockhead – 1456 feet (410m) above sea level in the Dumfries and Galloway hills – were balloted on taking over the 3,863 acres of land around the village currently owned by the Buccleuch organisation, which represents the business interest of the Buccleuch family, including the Duke of Buccleuch.

Wanlockhead Community Trust (WCT) said the agreement with Buccleuch, which is selling the land, would pave the way for its "quest for funding".

The trust has a range of projects in mind should its bid be accepted, with plans afoot to create a new mountain destination where skiing, gold panning and wild camping will be used to draw visitors.

A bid for funding towards the plans will now need to be submitted by the end of August.

Lincoln Richford, chairman of the Wanlockhead Community Trust, said: “This is excellent news for our proposed community buyout.

“We now know how much funding we have to set our sights on during the next six months.”

The trust now hopes to submit a grant application to the Scottish Land Fund by the end of the month.

It is also in discussions with several other potential funding bodies.

Anna Fergusson, who manages Buccleuch's Queensberry Estate, said: “We have been working with the WCT to reach agreement on the value of the land the trust wish to purchase, and it is great that we have now reached this stage.

“With both the community trust and Buccleuch mutually agreeing the value, the trust will be able to move to the next phase.”

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