THE Hive in Dollar is to come under the ownership of the town's development trust following a successful asset transfer request.

The request to bring the former civic centre into community ownership under Dollar Community Development Trust (DCDT) was approved by councillors in November, fulfilling a long-standing wish to secure the long-term future of the building.

The building will be sold to the trust at a discount price on the basis that it has evidenced community benefit, with two options to be presented to the Scottish Land Fund (SLF).

DCDT has submitted an application to the SLF to fund 95 per cent of the property and it is understood this is to be decided at a meeting early this month.

While the council's November 11 Place Committee agreed the request for The Hive, Dollar Community Development Trust will not yet be able to purchase the land around the property.

Local authority documents explained this is to give the council options around proposals to expand education facilities in the town.

The trust will instead be granted a license to occupy some of the surrounding land until a final decision is made on expanding the adjacent Strathdevon PS.

Stephen Roe, chair of Dollar Community Development Trust, welcomed the decision.

However, speaking about the adjacent land, he told the Advertiser: “This is disappointing to the trust as the community use this space for a variety of activities and events and it is hoped that there will be discussions in the near future to allow some land to be acquired.

“In the meantime, the council has given the trust a right of use.”

As part of the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) process, the trust – where board members have extensive experience in a broad range of disciplines – submitted a detailed business plan and financial projections.

The plans scored high in official assessments and there was no objections by decision makers, who supported the plans, on the day.

Stephen, a retired CEO with 45 years of experience in leading and turning around businesses, added: “The acquisition of The Hive on behalf of the community fulfils a long stated view of the community to acquire the building and secures the long-term future of this highly valued community asset.

“Ownership supports the long-term strategy of the trust: Caring, Connected Dollar; Sustainable Dollar; Destination Dollar.

“Ownership will allow further development and improvement of The Hive and it is hoped that there will be an agreement on the land which will allow the installation of a ground-source heat-pump system to cut the costs of heating the building, along with PV cells and a battery to power the heat pump.

“The Hive will soon belong to the Dollar community and the trust asks that any residents wishing to support the trust become members by visiting the trust website.”

Interested Dollar residents can visit dollarcdt.com.