Dundreggan News - May 2007
The purchase proceeds slowly, with up to six different sets of solicitors involved altogether. This has
become a real test of patience for us, as the legal processes unfold at their own pace, and we’ve had to adjust our plans to take account of the delays.
However, nothing has changed with our purchase agreement in any way, and we will complete the acquisition in due course.
It’s just about a year now since we signed the legally-binding agreement for the purchase of the Dundreggan Estate, and, almost unbelievably, we have still not taken ownership of the property! There have been a series of ongoing and seemingly interminable delays with getting the relevant documents approved that affirm the authority of the late Italian owner’s executors to sell the estate, with up to six different sets of solicitors involved altogether. This has become a real test of patience for us, as the legal processes unfold at their own pace, and we’ve had to adjust our plans to take account of the delays.
However, nothing has changed with our purchase agreement in any way, and we will complete the acquisition in due course, even if we don’t know the exact date yet! I’m very grateful for the patience of everyone who has donated to our purchase appeal, and especially to those who’ve made substantial contributions, as you have yet to see the fruits of your generosity. Through our own solicitors, we are pressing as much as we can for the acquisition to be settled promptly, and we will of course provide an update as soon as we have a date for the purchase to be completed. In the meantime I’d like to ask all our supporters to join us in holding the vision that it will take place in the near future. Thank you!
Although we’ve had to put some plans on hold, we have moved ahead where we can, and in January we submitted an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a Project Planning Grant for Dundreggan. If successful, this will provide us with the funds to employ a Project Planning Officer for a year, to draft a detailed plan for the long-term management of the Estate for forest restoration.
As part of the planning process, we will carry out detailed surveys to identify the biological diversity on
Dundreggan at present,
and we now have specialists lined up to cover key groups of organisms this year. These include
fungi,
lichens,
bryophytes (ie mosses and liverworts),
wood ants,
beetles and aquatic invertebrates, and will complement the
survey of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies)
carried out by David Barbour last year. We will also carry out a detailed vegetation survey of the estate, to identify the plant and
vegetation communities there, and to map out key species such as
dwarf birch (Betula nana). Taken together, these surveys will provide us with a good snapshot of what lives on Dundreggan just now, and will help to guide and shape the action we plan for the restoration of both native forest and other vegetation communities on the Estate.
Alan Watson Featherstone
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