That the Parliament celebrates what it believes to be a landmark moment in Scotland’s heritage regeneration journey, with the formal transferral of a 200-year-old church in the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency to the local community; understands that Campsie High Kirk, at the heart of Lennoxtown, is to be transformed into a community arts hub for the benefit of local people; notes that the move is the culmination of a flagship case for the new ownerless property transfer scheme (OPTS), which was launched in 2024 by the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR); believes that the church, one of Scotland’s best known kirks, was officially handed over by KLTR, John Logue, to East Dunbartonshire Provost, Gillian Renwick, at a public ceremony on 9 July 2025; praises community organisation Friends of Campsie High Kirk for its tenacity in putting forward the case to rescue the church, which had lain empty without an owner for years after a fire in 1984, which led to the community organisation acquiring the building from the KLTR for the sum of £1 in May 2025; recognises the role of the OPTS in providing opportunities for properties that have fallen to the Crown, as ownerless, to be brought back into purposeful use for the benefit of local communities, therefore empowering local people, and sends its very best wishes for the future of the former kirk to boost the Lennoxtown area, both culturally and economically.
Supported by:
Colin Beattie, Stephanie Callaghan, Annabelle Ewing, Kenneth Gibson, Clare Haughey, Bill Kidd, Audrey Nicoll, Kevin Stewart, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba, Martin Whitfield