PLANS to transform Lews Castle into a library and national Gaelic archive have been dealt a funding body blow.

On Tuesday, councillors were told the National Heritage Lottery Fund are only willing to support the project to the tune of £2.5 million - £2 million less than the bid submitted by Comhairle nan Eilean.

The Council have been informed the National Heritage Lottery Fund do not want to fund the proposed road link across the harbour.

News of the grant blow was greeted with disappointment when the announcement was made at the Arts and Leisure Committee which felt further efforts should be made to salvage the project - either by downgrading the proposals or through re-location to another site. But no firm action is to be entered into until the verbal dialogue with the Lottery Fund has been confirmed in writing.

Reporting to the Arts and Leisure Committee, Mr Martin Palmer, Special Projects Officer, said the National Heritage Lottery Fund have raised a number of issues over the funding of the Lews Castle project, including the road link which they consider is not part of their remit to fund. They have also requested further information on the viability of the project and the National Gaelic Archive. There had also been a desire to see the development of the Castle linked into landscaping of the surrounding area and urgent work carried out to the harbour wall at Bayhead.

Overall, Mr Palmer continued, the National Heritage Lottery Fund indicated that a reduced scheme would find some favour with them, and if the right scheme was available they would be willing to look at a grant of up to £2.5 million, approximately £2 million less than the Council were currently asking for.

Director of Education and Leisure Services, Mr Neil Galbraith added that in the absence of formal confirmation in writing, the recommendation before the Committee was that the matter be noted and a further report be brought to the next meeting.

If the project was to proceed, it appeared the Council would have to go along with the wishes of the National Heritage Lottery Fund and remove the road link from the project, said Mr Galbraith. The prospect of getting £4.5 million now seemed a "dim one".

His concerns were echoed by the Convener who felt the National Heritage Lottery Fund were dragging their heels, making it a struggle for the Council to get the project off the ground. It was vital that the Council go back to the National Heritage Lottery Fund to "see what we can squeeze out of them".

Raising the idea of an alternative location to Lews Castle, Mrs Katie Mary Mackenzie, Port of Ness, commented that the Castle project had been pushed forward so fast there had been no time to think about alternatives. The response from the National Heritage Lottery Fund suggested now might be the time to reconsider locating the library in the town centre.

The convener, however, was not ready to concede defeat quite yet, and pointed out that without the library being part of the Castle complex, there are worries about the running costs of the other parts of the development. And if the double track road link came out, the whole thing would fall.

Fears about the development were also expressed by Mr Roddy Macdonald, Education Committee chairman, who said he had hoped the "nightmare situation of Lews Castle" would have been resolved this year. He had no wish to see the project abandoned at this stage.

Hope was extended by vice convener, Mr Angus Graham who observed that Objective One funding had still to be looked into. Personally, he felt the road access across the harbour was "not that important" when there was existing access to the Castle and upgrading the footbridge at Bayhead was a simpler and cheaper option. The Lews Castle development would have to "go back to basics" if it were to proceed at all.

Mr Graham stated that if the library component of the development was to be removed, the Council would have to come to a decision within the next two or three months and have it in mind that money would still have to be budgeted to maintain the Castle, even if it was only enough to avoid handing the building over to the vandals.

It had to be remembered also that it was not just a library but a Gaelic archive of national importance that would fall by the way if funding could not be secured.

The vice convener, though, feared the Lews Castle project does not appeal to the "English aristocracy" that people the board of the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Their biggest grant award in Scotland was £10.2 million for the purchase of Mar Lodge by an international trust and it appeared from the list of grants it was only projects that interested the English aristocracy which received grants.

Education and Leisure Services Director, Mr Galbraith went on that the report to the next series of meetings would take a fresh look at the project and try to come up with a less ambitious project than before. If the project did not go ahead, Mr Galbraith reminded councillors they would still be left with the problem of what to do with Lews Castle.

In the present circumstances, it was now a case of cutting the coat to suit the cloth, observed Goathill councillor, Mr Norman L Macdonald, and cutting out the roadway was one way of achieving this. The "YM bridge" is also in need of attention as was the harbour wall which is in danger of collapsing, he said.

There was, added Mr Graham, some scope for seeking Millennium Commission funding as it had been on their advice that the Council had applied to the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Under the rules the Council are not allowed to now go back to the Millennium Commission, but this was unfair, said Mr Graham. He hoped that the outcome of the National Heritage Lottery Fund application could now be used as a lever to have the Castle project considered by the Millennium Commission for funding.

Mr Graham said he had contacted Western Isles MP, Mr Calum Macdonald for his help on the issue.

Original article Stornoway Gazette Feb 05 1997.