Selling agent appointed for Falls of Shin Visitor Centre but paperwork taking 'longer than had been hoped'
The community-owned Falls of Shin Visitor Centre will be put up for sale as soon as legal documents with grant provider the National Lottery are signed, it has been stated.
David Watson, manager of the Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust which looks after the centre, gave an update to Creich Community Council at its meeting in Bonar Bridge Community Hall on Tuesday.
The trust’s board of directors decided to put the facility, which opened in 2017 but has been closed for three years, on the market after strenuous efforts to find an operator for its restaurant and gift shop were unsuccessful.
However, the sale is complicated by the fact the Lottery, which contributed more than £1 million towards its construction, still retains a financial interest in the visitor centre.
The concern was that the proceeds from the sale of the building, located near Lairg, could be substantially less than the amount the Lottery is legally entitled to claw back.
Any demand from the Lottery for its full entitlement over and above the sale price, would put the trust in a difficult financial position and potentially threaten its existence.
However, Lottery officials have given a verbal assurance that this will not happen.
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Mr Watson said: “There is an informal agreement that the Falls of Shin can be sold, but because of the terms and conditions of the grant obligation we signed seven years ago they (the Lottery) have a remit to take back what they invested, less yearly depreciation of the value of the investment.
“The National Lottery Community Fund managers have said that they will take back the income from the sale, so the money will not remain in the community, unless the property sells for more than remaining clawback value, according to their calculations.”
He continued: “We have appointed excellent selling agents, who are specialists in marketing this type of property, but until the legalities are finalised to completely take the risk away from the trust, we cannot move forward.
“Unfortunately, it has taken much longer than we had hoped for the legal documentation to be finalised, but we are hoping to have all the required papers signed shortly.”
He added that it had been hoped to select a buyer who would have the community’s interest at heart, but this had proved impossible.
“We looked at possible ways to assess future community benefit, but the complexities were too challenging to consider so basically it will be sold to the highest bidder,” he said.
Mr Watson added that the trust would issue a full statement regarding the Falls of Shin in due course.
