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The RGD will provide £9m of funding to support the internal fit-out of the renovation and refurbishment of the Grade A Listed Rothesay Pavilion.

The RGD will provide £9m of funding to support the internal fit-out of the renovation and refurbishment of the Grade A Listed Rothesay Pavilion.

The transformation is about developing the Pavilion as a top cultural tourist destination for Scotland, a local jobs provider for Bute, and a modern-day resource for residents and visitors to Bute. As well as a major tourist attraction, the Pavilion is being developed as a leisure, culture and entertainment hub for local communities, and a driver for the local and wider economy

When completed, the Pavilion will include an events space, office facilities, the refurbished caretaker’s house, flexible exhibition space, craft retail/café space, dressing rooms, young people’s studio, and outdoor spaces.

The RGD will provide funding of £2m for a new water sports hub on Campbeltown Loch, creating an outstanding natural destination for sailing and other water sports.

KSS currently operates from Campbeltown Sailing Club; however, this facility no longer meets the required standards to sustain the increasing demand in the wide variety of water sports that exist in the community. The proposed new development will see the existing site redeveloped to form a two-storey building that will house changing facilities, space for learning, offices, a community café, a kitchen, and a range of storage space.

Creating new Community STEM Hubs within the RGD will provide a platform for STEM engagement opportunities for people of all ages in ߣsirÊÓƵ and Bute. £2.5 million funding from the Scottish Government will deliver modern, aspirational facilities for online (remote) and face-to-face learning.

The RGD will also create two physical STEM Hubs – one in Dunoon and one within the European Marine Science Park near Oban.

This project will provide £1.5 million of funding from the Scottish Government to support UHI ߣsirÊÓƵ’s campus enhancements at their Construction, Engineering, and Renewables Centre (CERC) in Lochgilphead.

The proposal seeks to expand the scope of UHI ߣsirÊÓƵ’s STEM curriculum, and significantly increase student volumes at the organisation’s construction and engineering hub in Lochgilphead to meet regional and national skills needs, maximise job opportunities aligned with emerging technologies, tackle the Climate Emergency and support the Just Transition to Net Zero.

Isle of Mull – Enabling Worker Accommodation

Isle of Islay –building our island communities 

The RGD Housing proposals will be supported with an investment of up to £3 million from the Scottish Government. 

The focus of this investment will be Mull and Islay. Both islands have experienced pressure in the local housing market due to above average construction costs, lack of private housing construction, and competing demand from high levels of second home ownership and holiday accommodation. These islands have also seen growth in local employment sectors such as tourism, aquaculture, and distilling; however, local workers and residents find it difficult to access accommodation, creating local recruitment challenges. The council will work with key stakeholders, developers, and community groups to explore innovative housing pilots to help provide local workers access to affordable, high-quality homes.

2025/26

2029/30

The West Coast UAV Logistics and Training Hub project will be supported with investment of up to £4 million from the UK Government. 

This project will involve investing in new business park infrastructure at Oban Airport to allow it to become a leading research and development centre for UAV technologies, building on the success of recent pioneering trials using drone technology to provide essential services to some of Scotland’s most fragile rural and island communities. The investment will deliver Scotland’s first specialised drone training and research centre. It will also provide state-of-the-art hangars with maintenance facilities for UAVs and general aviation aircraft.

This project will be delivered by the University of Stirling, supported by an investment of £3.8 million from the UK Government.

The RGD investment will enable research and development facilities to be upgraded at MIC to improve water quality, tank capacity, power and fresh water supplies, provision of a controlled laboratory environment and disease challenge facilities. These improvements will provide the facilities required to extend research and development opportunities for visiting researchers, students and other site users. MIC will continue to support growth in the blue economy by increasing high-value jobs both directly through the additional research and support staff required and also by enabling the expansion of existing companies and the creation of new businesses through start-ups.

The Centre for Seaweed and Shellfish Innovation and Development (C-SSIDe) will be led by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) and supported by an RGD investment totalling £3.33 million, with £1 million from the Scottish Government and £2.33 million from the UK Government.

This project will create a platform for industrial innovation that will allow a direct commercialisation of the world-leading research expertise at SAMS to catalyze growth in the area’s high-value seaweed and shellfish industries, underpinning a diversified aquaculture system development. The new facility will be located within the European Marine Science Park and will provide the necessary capability to upscale Scotland’s seaweed and shellfish industries, particularly higher value species, at the same time as enabling the development of industry through access to state-of-the-art research and development facilities.

UHI ߣsirÊÓƵ will deliver this project with £6 million of funding from the Scottish Government and £1.83 million from the UK Government.

This investment will create a new state-of-the-art education and training facility to provide an inspiring and engaging environment for students, staff, and business customers. It will support the growing aquaculture industry (currently worth £3.6 billion) and will directly and indirectly address the population decline and help to create local and regional employment opportunities.