Westray Development TrustNews

June Newsletter

Bayview Housing Project

Bayview now has a new roof! Thanks go to Westray Processors who agreed to let the building team use their land to prepare the new roof ready to be lifted up. The old roof trusses are available to take away in exchange for a donation to the Bargain Box. These are temporarily available at the Kelp Green to take away, it is first come first served, and you will need to arrange collection yourself. You can make your donation by posting to the WDT Office on Quarry Road in Pierowall. Donations will be shared between the Bargain Box groups. It is only the remains of the old roof which are currently available. 

For the rest of the renovations, work continues to progress well with new windows now installed in the new extension. The project remains on schedule for completion by the end of October this year. 

We are also in the process of setting up an agreement with an Orcadian letting agent who will assist with the management of the properties and rentals when complete. When this is in place work on a redraft of the allocations policy will progress with their assistance before further community consultation.

Bargain Box New Build

We received the structural engineer’s report which has informed the new build plans that will incorporate the WDT Office and Bargain Box into one building. In addition to this, the Board has agreed to arrange for a sound test design review of the new plans to ensure that the new build will meet expected warrant conditions. While this will delay submitting the building warrant application, it is better that any amendments to plans are made at this stage.

Bargain Box

The following safety rules of only one household at a time, face coverings, 2 metre social distancing and hand sanitising before and after entry are still in force. To book an appointment for Wednesday or Saturday, please contact Trustee Anne Burgher on 01857677344. Donations are on Mondays ONLY at the Höfn, this is to keep it manageable for volunteers and so donations can be isolated before processing for the shop. Again, please contact Anne Burgher for an appointment. Everything fundraised will go into the shared group funding pot.

Public Bins

The Trust is awaiting written confirmation from Orkney Islands Council that if WDT were to install additional public bins in Westray these would be emptied by the Council service. Five locations have been proposed from the list of community suggestions in 2019. The relevant landowners have been contacted for permission. This project had been placed on hold in 2020 while both OIC and WDT prioritised COVID-19 response work. 

Extra Mobile Library Visit 

BookyMcBookFace, Orkney Libary’s mobile library, came for its first extra WDT-funded visit in June. The library welcomed a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. 

The next visit on the 21st July 2021 is part of the normal timetable. The next extra visit funded by WDT will be on 11th August 2021.

Westray Community Garden

Broad beans, courgettes and cabbages have been planted outside. There also continues to be a profusion of blossom on the strawberries and tomatoes which will be ready soon.

We are conducting a little experiment this year growing chilis in a gravel medium and drip-feeding nutrient water. Watch this space to see how the results turn out!

I heart Westray – Defibrillator Network

Do you know where the nearest defibrillator is?

It is good news that Denmark’s Christian Eriksen is now stable and on the mend after he suffered a cardiac arrest during the Denmark vs Finland football game last Saturday. It was thanks to the quick actions of the medics and the use of CPR and a defibrillator that saved his life. The events of the weekend show that a cardiac arrest could happen to anyone at any time.

Westray is remarkably well-provided for in terms of defib-access, with 7 public access defibrillators for a population of about 600. 6 of these defibs were installed by WDT, the School defib was donated by the Orkney Heart Support Group. Please familiarise yourself with where your nearest defibrillator is, it could make the difference in saving a life one day.

In the event of a cardiac arrest call 999 for help and begin CPR.

For an online refresher on performing CPR visit;

https://www.bhf.org.uk/…/how-to-save-a-life/how-to-do-cpr

For more about Westray Development Trust’s I ❤Westray project visit; https://westraydevelopmenttrust.co.uk/i-heart-westray…/

Broadband

We have received a response from the Scottish Government to the Freedom of Information request that we recently submitted. An excerpt from the response is below,

‘…As a result, we are not yet in a position to confirm all properties that will fall within R100 North contract build plans and the technology type that will be used to connect them. This is because BT is required to remodel its build plans to account for changes in commercial coverage. We have, however, recently updated the status of around 45,000 premises on our online address checker, www.scotlandsuperfast.com, to reflect that they are likely to be built through the R100 North contract. People residing and working in Westray can access the address checker on the website for further information, however it should be noted that this may not currently reflect the final build plan for these properties. We expect to have the full picture across the North lot during this summer.’


The response did not provide us with all of the information we were hoping to get but did confirm that we have a further couple of months to wait before BT confirm their intentions. If you would like to see the full response please contact [email protected] and this can be emailed to you.

Grants Awarded

Back in 2019 Westray Parish Kirk applied to the Community Turbine Fund for a Community Grant to to help towards the cost of extending the Kirk carpark. It was felt that extending the current carpark would improve safe access to the Kirk, which serves the community in a number of ways in addition to it’s religious service, and we agreed, awarding funding of £6,192. Due to various unforeseeable delays, the pandemic included, the carpark extension has only recently been able to start. We are delighted to see that work is now in full swing and it hopefully wont be long until it can be used by the community. Our congratulations go to the Parish Kirk for bringing this project to fruition, despite the obstacles.

Turbine Figures

The community turbine generated 173,215kW of power during May which gives a gross income of just over £24,000. The average generation for the month of May is 211,782kW so we were slightly below the average this May. 

Contact Us

Our office continues to be restricted by COVID-19 regulations and so we remain closed to the public for the time being. The staff team are implementing a phased return to work which will enable the office to be manned by at least one, but no more than two, members of staff during the Trust’s core opening hours of 9am – 4pm Monday to Friday.

Email [email protected]

Call – 01857677858

For regular updates you can also visit our:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/westraydevelopmenttrust

https://www.facebook.com/Westray-Community-Garden-Project-1960811767512092

Instagram – @westraydevelopmenttrust

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