Transport & Local Energy

Transport Feasibility Study for Glen Urquhart and Strathglass
The Study was undertaken in 2019 to address the challenges faced by local people and visitors to the areas when traveling around the Glens.

The key challenges identified were:

Taking children to school within Drumnadrochit without a fossil fuelled car
Taking children to school in Drumnadrochit from outside the village without a fossil fuelled car
Commuting to Inverness without a fossil fuelled car
Leisure travel to Inverness and around Glen Urquhart and Strathglass without a fossil fuelled car
Travel between Cannich and Beauly without a fossil fuelled car
Funding transport for school trips
Attending community groups without a fossil fuelled car

The proposed solutions include:

A Walking Bus within Drumnadrochit to encourage active travel for the primary school
Developing safer paths in Drumnadrochit and Balnain to allow for active travel and safer routes to school
Expansion of the EV charging network in Glen Urquhart and Strathglass
Increase Ride Sharing provision – formalising and expand
Car share scheme
Improving the Public transport information availability
Introducing e-bike hire to Glen Urquhart and Strathglass
Introduce a Community Transport Scheme
Establishing a Transport Hub

Summary Transport Feasibility Study for Glen Urquhart and Strathglass
Transport Feasibility Study for Glen Urquhart and Strathglass

For further information please contact Carol [email protected]

Drumnadrochit Local Energy Plan

What is a Local Energy Plan?
Local Energy Plans aim to set out the key priorities and opportunities, taking into account the views and priorities of a range of stakeholders, including individuals, community organisations and local businesses, the local authority, the Distribution Network Operator (Scottish and Southern Electric Networks) and local generators.

Local Energy Plans make recommendations and suggest practical projects with the aim of complementing current and future energy system developments.

Drumnadrochit – Local Energy Plan

This Local Energy Plan has been developed to enable the Drumnadrochit community to look at its existing and future energy needs in terms of power, heat and transport and determine where it sees priorities for action.

It has been created by the community, rather than being developed for them by other bodies (e.g. local authorities or National Government).

The development of the plan has been led by a steering group including Soirbheas, Glen Urquhart Rural Community Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Community Council.

The Local Energy Plan provides a start in the community’s engagement with its energy needs. It offers a focus for immediate opportunities that can be developed in the short term. It also provides scope for longer-term planning for further changes in the future.

To view a copy of the Drumnadrochit Local Energy Plan:
Full Plan
Summary
GCP Heating Case Study

COBEN Programme Background
The Community Benefit of Civic Energy – COBEN project aims to evolve support for community energy to move from a focus of electricity generation supported by subsidies to a more whole system approach where communities’ energy generation, energy efficiency, heat, transport, storage and future usage needs are considered together.

Local Energy Scotland led a pilot to develop and implement local energy plans for four local communities in the Scottish Highlands and Islands Enterprise Region and to develop a common local energy plan methodology, business model templates and IT tools.

The pilot area
The four locations were Brae (Shetland Islands), Drumnadrochit (Inverness), Barra and Vatersay (Western Isles) and Oban. They were selected to reflect the range in sizes, locations, attributes and challenges that communities have across the Highlands and Islands.