Altyre Estate and the Community

Altyre has been engaged with its local communities for hundreds of years. The first Altyre Kirk was already a focal point for the local community by 1220AD and our unusual Victorian chapel is used regularly for weddings.

Altyre is a place where people live, work, study, socialise, exercise and birdwatch. Altyre enjoys close and ancient links with the neighbouring town of Forres and continues to make land available to meet local housing demand.

Looking ahead the Estate intends to earmark redundant buildings for repurposing as incubator and SME workspace for ‘young entrepreneurs’, rooted in a longstanding aim to help retain local young people and enable them to develop business propositions for the rural economy. The arrival of Glasgow School of Art has also opened the Estate to many domestic and foreign students who are leading community- based projects centred on health and wellbeing, employment generation and innovation, while they live, socialise and spend in our local communities.

The Estate encourages local community groups to spend time in the countryside. A recent successful project has been the community-lead restoration of the Boathouse at Loch of Blairs. The Friends of Blairs Loch have put in a fantastic effort to bring this beautiful building back to life. For more information visit www.blairsloch.com

Altyre is host to the Berry Burn Wind Farm (2014) which is now providing up to £175,000 annually for 25 years to local communities and projects through the Berry Burn Community Fund. An extension to the Wind Farm will double that figure.