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November 17, 2020
Anchoring Northmavine
Many years ago when DTAS was getting off the ground, I had the pleasure to go on a fairly extended road trip around Scotland to meet those community organisations who might think about becoming members. That trip included my first visit to Shetland and I’d been told I should head for a place called Northmavine. Last week, I dipped into DTAS’s Annual Conference and watched a lovely film about the work of Northmavine Community Development Company. The folk I met all those years ago, Margaret Roberts and Maree Hay, are still very much at the heart of things. Speaks volumes.
Short film here
Northmavine is the northern glory of Shetland – a tourist paradise of spectacular coastal and inland scenery, wildlife, crafts, great food and drink. And welcoming people.
It’s also one of the most vibrant, hard-working communities in the isles. Fishing, aquaculture, crofting, seafood processing, tourism and of course, it’s home to the hurricane-proof Polycrub, the undercover growtunnel invented and produced by community interest company Nortenergy, a subsidiary of NCDC. Its community recycling centre enables waste and large household items to be dealt with locally.
NCDC exists to help Northmavine grow – economically, yes, but also socially and culturally. We are a local charitable company intent on making this community a better place to live, work, settle and bring up families, and we’ve existed in one form or another since 2004.
Windpower developments, bringing the Chelsea Flower Show Shetland Crofthouse Garden to North Roe, community Polycrubs, housing, the legendary Glusstonberry Festival, guidebooks, the Hillswick Community Shop, tourism initiatives, toilets and tourist facilities at the Collafirth Pier and more. NCDC has done a lot. And we’re keen to do more.