Exclusive:Bizarre application surge fuels concern over plans for dramatic glen near Loch Ness
Dozens of applications have been received by the community trust
A community trust has noticed a bizarre surge in applications to become members amid competing interests over development plans near Scotland’s Great Glen.
The Scotsman understands the Glengarry Community Development Trust (GCDT), a small community company to the south of Loch Ness, received a sudden influx of applications for new members earlier this year, all within the same day and two hours apart.
Community Land Scotland (CLS), the organisation in Scotland representing communities, said the sudden number of applications was “a highly irregular occurrence”. The body claimed it had not seen such a move before in community organisations across the country.
The Scotsman has been told 36 applications - more than half the trust’s membership - came from a small number of addresses in the area alleged to be related to Black Sheep Management Services. The hospitality company has a string of hotels and holiday developments in the area.
The business has recently lodged plans for a new visitor centre with a cafe, shops and car park for the Glengarry viewpoint — proposals community groups, including the GCDT, claim to have known nothing about.
Indian businessman Sanjay Narang, the owner of the hospitality company, has previously laid out ambitions to develop an 18th-century style Highland village at Glengarry with 100 cottages, plus hotels. The Scotsman has attempted multiple times to contact Mr Narang and his company to hear an update on the plans, but has received no reply.
The vision is still displayed on a website for Mars Hospitality Group, a company based in Mumbai and which Mr Narang promotes.
Some residents in the area said they were anxious the rush of potentially linked applications to the trust could, if all were to vote in a particular direction, have a significant impact on the governance of the way the GCDT is run.
A spokesperson for Black Sheep Management Services said the concerns were “unfounded” and a meeting with the GCDT in September about the applications saw “no need for concern". "We agreed a resolution concluding the matter at that meeting,” the spokesperson said.
"Consequently, we will not be making any further statement."
The GCDT disputed the statement that a resolution was reached.
Anyone who is a resident living in the Glengarry Community Council area can apply to become a member of the GCDT and to be on the board of directors. The idea the of structure means, according to CLS, the local community has control over what the trust does.
Ultimately, members hold the board to account at annual general meetings, of which one is coming up for the GCDT. With a block of applications and proxy votes, concern has been raised that long-term decisions for the trust could end up being steered to suit an individual’s or individual organisation’s aims.
The GCDT is assessing the applications to ensure they meet its requirements, such as being entitled to vote in local elections. It comes as the trust has expressed interest in purchasing some Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) property for sale in Glengarry.
As part of the community empowerment act, FLS is required to notify communities that it is on the open market.
The Scotsman understands Mr Narang also has an interest in the same plot of land for commercial interests.
Josh Doble, of CLS, said: “Membership applications often come in fits and bursts, when new people arrive in the community, or after a particular event encourages a growth in membership, not one block of applications arriving at this scale and in this manner.
“Due to the importance of the membership in ensuring accountability and strong governance in community organisations, it is only appropriate that the trust may wish to assess the applications to ensure that they met the requirements for membership as set out by GCDT. ”
A spokesperson for GCDT said: “We are always keen to expand our membership and ensure that the local community of Glengarry can help shape the future of the trust and its projects.
“Membership of the trust is open to anyone within the Glengarry Community Council area, as long as they are over 18, ordinarily resident in the area, entitled to vote in local government elections and support the purposes and of the trust. This underpins the trust’s clear and robust governance structure.”
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