As a major infrastructure development, the project requires partnership working with many interests from across all sectors, whilst keeping the local community, as represented by The Dunoon Project Ltd (DPL) charity, at its very core.
Project partners include DPL, Bishop’s Glen Investment Partners Limited, and Action Argyll Limited. Other Project collaborators include private investors, commercial businesses, landowners, the public and third sectors, governance gurus and local and national government, as well as a range of experienced specialist consultants, architects and legal advisers.
Local community representation and involvement – including part-ownership of land assets and intellectual property, and participation in profit-sharing – is overseen by community-based charity, DPL. DPL in turn are supported by an Advisory Group of experts and specialists, and a Junior Advisory Board of pupils from Dunoon Grammar School.
The Dunoon Project has been supported in the early stages thanks to generous public grants to the DPL charity from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund and Community Led Local Development Funds, via Argyll and Bute Council.
In the long term, the Dunoon Project aims to use a revolutionary, innovative funding model, one which sees both public and commercial partners making significant financial investment. Project partner Bishop’s Glen Investment Partnership Limited (BGIP) will create a financial vehicle to manage both investment and profit sharing, and a proportion of those profits will be received annually by the charity DPL. In turn, DPL will manage and distribute funds locally through a good causes grant system.
A crucial part of the Dunoon Project’s financial planning is the inclusion of strategies which extend beyond measurements of financial success. With the guidance and support of The Good Economy, the project is working towards social impact and sustainability targets with the aim of attracting socially responsible investors.
The Dunoon Project Team is an evolving partnership with a community and private-sector collaboration at its core.
At this stage, the key partners are The Dunoon Project Ltd, who are the community-owned charity; Bishop’s Glen Investment Partners Limited (BGIP) who have been set up both as the developer of the site’s major infrastructure and as the management company for the Project, and Action Argyll Limited who will develop some of the adventure-related activities and events such as mountain biking and zipwires.
External partnerships to date include private investors, commercial businesses, landowners, the public and third sectors, governance gurus, and local and national government. Over time, the Project hopes to include other collaborators and partners as the initiative takes shape.
Dunoon Project works closely with many individuals and organisations, both locally and nationally. Because of the scale and complexity of the project, the support, expertise and knowledge extended by its many partners is invaluable. Those partners include: