MOVES to retain an auction mart facility in Oban received a double
boost yesterday when the Scottish Co-Operative Wholesale Society made a
''substantial donation'' to the fund-raising campaign.
Formal agreement for the purchase, at a ''nominal sum,'' of a
seven-acre site on the outskirts of the town for a new market was also
agreed with a local landowner.
Oban market steering group chairman, Mr Bill Robertson, said the plans
now hinged on an EC decision, expected within the next two weeks, for
approval of a #250,000 grant towards the #1m project at Glencruitten
Estate, owned by Mr Max McKay James. Highlands and Islands Enterprise
has already committed #500,000.
The steering group's initiative to raise a further #250,000 has
attracted subscriptions from about 240 sources from Caithness to the
South of England, and is now only about #60,000 short of target.
A planning application for the new mart has been submitted to Argyll
and Bute District Council. It is hoped work will begin in the spring,
and be completed in time for next year's autumn sales.
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