Islanders mount record £4.5m bid to buy apple of their eye

THE most expensive attempt at a taxpayer-funded community buyout in Scotland is to be launched for cider heir Jonathan Bulmer’s £4.5m Hebridean castle and estate.

The bid for Amhuinnsuidhe Castle and its 50,000 acres on the Isle of Harris would exceed the 3m paid for the Isle of Gigha.

The area covers most of North Harris, which has a population of 800 and is widely recognised as one of the great sporting estates in Scotland.

Alasdair Nicholson, the SNP’s prospective Holyrood candidate for the Western Isles seat, confirmed that he knew of a local move to buy the estate.

"I know that a bid is being explored and I am fully behind it," he said.

"The price for Amhuinnsuidhe is similar to that paid for Gigha but affects eight times more people.

"I think it is entirely appropriate that public money is used in a similar way to free the people of North Harris from private landlord rule."

However, one insider said such a bid was "frightfully complex".

"I think the castle and the sporting rights would have to be flogged on to pay for the rest. The money to buy this estate would drain what’s left of the Land Fund.

" But a deal could be worked out where the community own their land at the expense of selling on the castle and sporting rights. The danger is that this bid is politically led and not community led - based on sound finances."

It is believed Bulmer is selling Amhuinnsuidhe to help pay his divorce settlement with his estranged wife, Lady Marcia.

"The estate is being sold as a result of Jonathan Bulmer’s change of family circumstances and desire to seek new challenges, having put the estate on a firm footing," said a statement by estate agents Knight Frank.