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Updated - 9th December 2004

Rumster Outdoor Centre Councillors Support Request

Rumster Outdoor Centre Management Group
9th December 2004

The intention of this communiqué is to seek support from Caithness elected Councillors in relation to the Rumster Outdoor Centre.

Following the review, by the Rumster Outdoor Activities Management Group on the 8th December 2004, of the Caithness Outdoor Activities Centre Feasibility Study - dated September 2004, a unanimous decision was reached.

The Group tasked the Group's Convenor to make contact on their behalf, to request the support of Caithness's Elected Council Members. This support is in the form of agreeing to a rebuild of Rumster Outdoor Activities Centre, based on the information contained in the Feasibility Study commissioned by the Highland Council.

From the information contained within the Feasibility Study and the experience of local Highland Council Officers, Rumster as it currently is, even with minimal investment (£22 000 - £30 000), will not gain as much as a12% occupancy rate, within an 8 month season. This will make securing the capital cost impractical due to such low predicted use. This will also effect the Centre's viability, in as much as it will not be able to secure the income necessary for its annual running costs (insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc). Furthermore, it is questionable as to whether it is ethical to look at refurbishing the Centre, at the same time as trying to continually minimise investment in the context of the Disabilities Discrimination Act, or ignoring the needs of those individuals and organisations, that were identified through the Feasibility Study.

The Rumster Outdoor Centre Management Group, constituted by individuals and organisations with an interest in the outdoors, agreed to start to explore a unanimous vision for Rumster: a purpose-built Environmental Community Outdoor Centre.
Effectively, the creation of an outdoor residential centre, constructing in a strong renewables component within the wider context of health & wellbeing.

If Caithness Elected Council Members are in support of this vision, we aim to seek further advise in relation to:

 Log Cabin Technology
 Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Technology

The local Forestry Commission supports this vision and have agreed that their experience with building the log cabin at Brogie, will be shared with the Group throughout this process and that logs sourced directly from Rumster Forest area itself, will be used in the construction of the new Centre. Furthermore, Rumster Forest will continue and possibly strengthen its role as a forest actively promoting health & wellbeing within Caithness. Current photographs of the construction of the Brogie log cabin are below, as a working example:

Assistance will be sought from the University of Highlands and Island, Environmental Research Centre and the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon, Forestry in relation to the maximum potential benefits available from combining the Log Cabin Technology with other forms of renewable resources. It is anticipated that examples of these technologies will include: wood burning stoves/boiler systems, solar and photo-volt panels, including, small stream hydro-electricity generation, small scale wind generator.

Support from this approach to developing and securing long-term sustainability and viability of Rumster as an Environmental Community Outdoor Centre is already secured from management group members and their respective organisations including:

Forestry Commission
North Highland Community Health Partnership

Furthermore, we expect that such an innovative approach will be well supported by a wide range of interest groups, organisations and communities.
The Scottish Executive has tasked itself with improving the health and wellbeing of all Scottish Citizens and with reducing the poverty gap. Rumster falls within an area of concern when using the Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation. In North Highland, the areas stretching from Helmsdale to Wick (inclusive), are almost all ranked within the most deprived 30% of areas within Scotland. Rumster as an Environmental Community Outdoor Centre is strategically located to serve these areas of local deprivation and thus actively promote the health and wellbeing of those living and working here.

'Low cost', is a significant plea made in the Feasibility Study and as such we aim to charge for self-catering (no facilitated activities) £2.50 per person, per night. We expect to negotiate a contract with a catering company ideally in the Lybster area, to offer a range of menus and services, for those with an anticipated wide range of budgetary requirements, who request catering, when they utilise the Centre. We also expect to access a database of a range of appropriately qualified outdoor activities instructors who will be prepared to contract directly with any organisation/group, who want to use the Centre and have a range of Outdoor Activities led by people with the relevant qualifications and experience.

Given the innovative direction and relevance in the context of local, regional and national policies and strategies, we do not expect the raising of the necessary capital to realise this project, to be too problematic.

This is the Rumster Outdoor Centre Management Group's Vision for Rumster and we request the support of Caithness's Elected Council Members views and support.

Yours faithfully,

Miles Greenford, Convenor Rumster Outdoor Centre Management Group
Public Health Practitioner North Highland CHP

miles@farnortherners.net