Trailblazing Tain project on NC500 could become Highland regeneration blueprint
GROUND has been broken on a visionary £1.6m Easter Ross project on the North Coast 500 which could become a regeneration model for other rural communities across the Highlands.
Local MSP Maree Todd cut the first turf on Friday at the Gro For You Community Innovation Campus in Tain, a project designed to offer local solutions to challenges like depopulation, skills shortages and outward youth migration.
When opened fully in 2026, Phase One is expected to attract 26 000 visitors per year, creating 24 full-time jobs and providing apprenticeships for 240 local young people.
The campus - which will promote sustainability, community learning and development and wellbeing - will also provide welfare and waste disposal facilities for 560 motorhomes.
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The facilities aim to address the current lack of tourist infrastructure for NC500 visitors within Tain itself, with EV charging points, tourist information and a community cafe to be housed on site.
With school enrolment at Tain Royal Academy falling by 50 per cent in a decade, the project promises to bring new life and opportunity to the town and the wider Easter Ross peninsula.
The Cromarty Firth and Inverness freeport project is forecast to create renewables opportunities locally and, with NC500 growing in popularity, the project aims to “future-proof” Tain and the surrounding area for the longer term.
Partners also believe the community interest company (CIC) project - a partnership between For You Training and Gro For Good - could act as a blueprint to help rejuvenate other rural communities in the Highlands facing deprivation and depopulation.
“What this offers is a catalogue of community and economic benefits that will provide solutions to challenges highland rural communities face,” said Sarah MacKenzie, Gro For You co-founder and CEO.
“We are seeing firsthand the challenges faced by young people and believe that a transformational innovation campus will be of great benefit to our local community and future generations by providing accessible training and learning opportunities, transferable skills for young people and community facilities.
“Additionally, as more visitors come, we need the infrastructure. With this project, it is the people who will use these services that have provided the solutions.
“That is the innovation: resourcing local communities to meet the challenges they face, themselves.”
Fellow co-founder, Richard Jones, added: “There can be frustrations across sectors, here, that they have to fit into a national strategy which doesn’t always fully work for the highlands. We hope this model can be replicated to help other highland communities.”
With tourism and trades forming the backbone of the local economy, the campus apprenticeship programmes will be pivotal to equipping local youngsters to fill key skills gaps.
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Co-partner, For You Training, is already one of the largest highland providers of Foundation Apprenticeships, delivering 178 apprenticeships in 2024 with a 91 per cent achievement rate.
Indoor and outdoor learning environments, including a sensory garden, will be encompassed within the Campus learning domes, with a hospitality training centre built on-site.
Co-partner, Gro For Good, will bring community sustainability innovations through aquaponic food production technology which produces both fish and food, with zero waste.
Sustainability is fundamental to the project, with solar PV and heat pump energy sources, rainwater harvesting systems and biodiversity zones all featuring in the build and its domed learning spaces.
Local MSP Maree Todd, said: "It’s great to be with the Gro For You Team to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony, just ahead of Scottish Apprenticeship Week.
“Depopulation is one of the greatest challenges facing the Highlands, and the lack of opportunities for our young people is a key factor contributing to this.
“The Gro For You Innovation Campus is a game-changer for our young people, offering them new and accessible opportunities right here in their own community. It’s a place where they can develop essential skills, pursue training, and build meaningful careers without having to leave the area in search of work.
“The project as a whole, with its focus on sustainability, community, and wellbeing, will be a major asset to the region, bringing both social and economic benefits.”
Agnes Hooper, local young business apprentice, said: "I feel that the campus will greatly benefit both the current and future generations. It will provide a sustainable community centred space for all ages to enjoy, whilst also increasing investment opportunities within Tain.”
Need to know: Tain project vision unveiled
Tain has a population of 1086 but only 656 are of working age. The proposal seeks to generate multiple job opportunities and to train people for employment in existing and new industries. It also promsies much-needed visitor infrastructure, with motorhome and coach parking, community information, EV parking spaces, bike spaces, waste disposal and bin stores as well as indoor and outdoor dining spaces.
The campus is situated on arable farmland leased by arrangement from The Glenmorangie Company, project supporters. The site is positioned next to the A9 and north entrance to Tain. The campus will host a number of geodesic domes for research, interpretation and aquaponic growing areas. It will also have a training centre with office space, training kitchen and cafe.
The campus will specialise in the training of food technologies, hospitality, business and employability.
Outdoor areas will include sensory gardens and play areas, rainwater harvesting systems, wildflower meadows, a wet wildlife garden, a rewilding zone, outdoor kitchen and Curlew Stretch Tent, herb, fruit and vegetable gardens providing produce for the cafe and restaurant, biodiversity edges and outdoor planting beds.
The training centre is heated and powered by underfloor heating and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
In Phase 2, funding will be sought for an events and conference dome with mezzanine, overlooking the Dornoch Firth, with seating capacity for 150.
