SPIRALLING COSTS FORCE DELAY IN DEVELOPMENT PLANS

With the pre-contract design work on the St Kilda Viewpoint Centre completed in the spring of this year, Sealladh Hiort trustees have been working over the past few months with main sponsors, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to source the necessary funding to enable the project to be built.

This has proved a challenging task for a number of reasons, not least of which has been significant inflation in both the construction industry specifically and the economy more widely which, over the past two years has driven the costs of the project up from just over £3m to £4.8m. Added to this are the ongoing challenges with Uist ferry services which are not only presenting difficulties for building contractors, but are also restricting visitor numbers, which are key to the completed visitor centre’s economic viability.

As a result, Sealladh Hiort Trustees have regretfully decided that, despite the project being absolutely ready to proceed, the risks associated with building the Viewpoint Centre right now are too great for a community group, and that the best course of action is to postpone starting the development until the economic situation has stabilised and the new Uig to Lochmaddy ferry is in service.

Being part of the Comhairle’s 10 year Island Growth Deal’s Destination Development tourism strand, which is not due to be completed until 2032, the Viewpoint Centre can still count on this significant element of its required funding for a number of years, and this will remain key to attracting the additional financial support required when the moment is right.

Sealladh Hiort Chair, Alasdair MacEachen said “After all the hard work of the past six years to get the project to such an advanced stage this decision has been extremely difficult to take, but in the current circumstances we feel we have no choice. However, we have the great advantage of having a project absolutely ready to start on site when the situation improves and it is still our intention to do this as soon as the opportunity arises.”

Sealladh Hiort Trustees were also shocked and saddened by the news last week that one of its board members, John Love of Snishival on South Uist, had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. John had been a board member of Sealladh Hiort since its formation in 2017. Alasdair MacEachen paid tribute to his long service for the charity saying “Apart from being an enthusiastic supporter of the idea to build a visitor centre about St Kilda on Uist, his unrivalled knowledge of the archipelago’s social and natural history has been key to the now completed design of the Centre’s exhibition. His presence on the Sealladh Hiort board and his contributions to the Viewpoint Centre’s design will be greatly missed.”