HISTORIC TOLL HOUSE TO HIT THE MARKET:
KPTDT EXPLORES COMMUNITY BUYOUT TO SECURE
THREE VILLAGES CAFE.
The historic Toll House in Penpont is officially entering the open market, representing a rare and versatile opportunity for potential buyers while simultaneously unlocking a crucial new chapter for local community development. Long recognised as a prominent village fixture, the property has caught the attention of the Keir, Penpont and Tynron Development Trust (KPTDT). Following a previous exploration of the Volunteer Arms (the Vollie House)—which was ultimately deemed unsuitable—the Trust has announced it now has an exciting new option to explore the Toll House as a potential community and social hub.
Crucially, the building currently houses the Three Villages Cafe, a community enterprising model managed directly by the Trust. The cafe acts as a vital community anchor, providing a range of community wealth-building initiatives and essential local services. This includes acting as a training and employment hub for local young people, offering subsidised and supportive community food sharing opportunities, and serving as a lifeline helping to reduce social isolation and loneliness. Purchasing the building through community ownership will directly help to secure the future of this indispensable resource, ensuring these social benefits remain a permanent fixture for residents.
To ensure the wider building serves the best interests of the public, KPTDT is seeking vital resident input through a brief three-question survey to gauge community support and gather ideas for expanded use. Proposed concepts for the hub include extending the daytime cafe into a licensed evening social space, creating meeting rooms, building workshop spaces, and establishing a base for visiting professionals like Citizens Advice.
Whether the Toll House transitions into a fully community-owned asset or attracts a private buyer looking to preserve a piece of Penpont’s heritage, its arrival on the open market marks a pivotal moment for the area. Residents are strongly encouraged to share their feedback via the KPTDT Survey. If people need support to access the survey, they are welcome to pop into the KPTDT office on Main Street, Penpont. The link for the survey monkey is as follows:
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS COMPLETED THE SURVEY – THE RESULTS SHOW AN OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR THE CAFE/SOCIAL HUB IDEA. WE WILL CONTINUE WORKING TOWARDS THIS SHARED GOAL.
Toll House Survey: Results & Community Report
Thank you to the 81 respondents who took the time to complete our survey regarding the future of the Toll House in Penpont. Your feedback gives us a clear mandate and strong data to move forward with identifying and securing funds.
Catchment Area Engagement & Survey Validity
The 81 completed responses represent a highly robust and statistically significant sample of the Keir, Penpont and Tynron Development Trust (KPTDT) joint community catchment area. Launched on 23 July 2026 and closed on Friday 28 August 2026, the survey ran for a comprehensive period of five weeks (36 days).
Recognising that a significant portion of our rural community—particularly the regular patrons and supporters of the Three Villages Café —face digital barriers or choose not to engage online, a deliberate emphasis was placed on digital inclusion and physical accessibility. Rather than relying solely on internet-based outreach, KPT Development Trust intentionally deployed a multi-channel methodology.
Digital Inclusion & Community Accessibility
By grounding the consultation with physical touchpoints at both the Three Villages Café and the KPT Development Trust Office on Main Street, we successfully lower participation barriers for offline residents. Providing paper-based copies alongside our digital JotForm ensured that older demographics, individuals without reliable broadband, and local cafe supporters had an equal voice in the process. This inclusive framework prevents response bias and guarantees that the resulting data accurately represents our entire interconnected community, rather than just its digitally active members.
Conclusion & Strategic Mandate
The results of this survey deliver an unambiguous, overwhelming community mandate for the Keir, Penpont and Tynron Development Trust to pursue the acquisition of the Toll House. With a statistically robust sample size and exceptional cross-parish engagement, the data reveals that 90.12% of the community support purchasing the property, while 86.42% state a direct intention to utilise the space once operational. The strong local preference for multi-use programming—led by a daytime cafe (85.19%) and diverse evening social events—demonstrates a clear collective desire for a vibrant, multi-generational community asset. Armed with this robust data and evidence of inclusive engagement, KPTDT is now fully equipped to present a powerful, data-backed case to the Scottish Land Fund and other major funding bodies to secure the Toll House for social and community purposes.
Strategic Next Steps
With over 90% of respondents explicitly backing the acquisition and 86% promising active usage, KPTDT holds a powerful mandate to submit community ownership fund requests.
In 2016 the three communities of Keir, Penpont and Tynron in Mid Nithsdale, Dumfries and Galloway came together to find a way to make best use of the small amount of windfarm money that comes into the area annually.
Firstly the community councils set up the Keir, Penpont and Tynron Joint Community Benefit Fund (JCBF) whose only task was to distribute these windfarm funds.
In 2017 the JCBF, funded by CARES, the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme, conducted a full-scale study of the three communities – the overwhelming result of this consultation was that a separate organisation be set up to investigate further and then take forward the ideas identified.
KPT Development Trust was duly set up and became incorporated at Companies House, Edinburgh, on 28th March 2018.
The original consultation identified four themes – the natural environment, infrastructure, economy and community. From these a long term vision for the local community was set out (see ‘About Us’).
Funding to employ a part-time development officer came from the KPT JCBF, ANCBC (Annandale and Nithsdale Community Benefit Fund) and LEADER in the first instance with further funding from the National Lottery in due course.
The JCBF was disbanded in 2022 and the Trust now applies to the individual Community Councils on an annual basis for some core funding, supplemented by other sources – our current core funding is from Keir Community Council, Penpont Community Council, ANCBC and Paths for All.
Is more than an organisation; it’s a catalyst for positive change. As a company limited by guarantee, our core mission is to spearhead community legacy projects in the villages of Keir, Penpont, and Tynron. Our work focuses mainly on:
Explore our website to stay updated on upcoming events, discover the latest news about ongoing projects, and learn how you can actively participate in shaping the future of our villages.
Thank you for joining us on this exciting journey of community development. Together, let’s build a lasting legacy for Keir, Penpont, and Tynron.
PENPONT LOCAL PLACE PLAN
Between the summer of 2024 and the spring of 2025, with grant support from Dumfries and Galloway Council (*), the Trust, together with Penpont Community Council, local residents and commissioned consultants, produced a Local Place Plan for the parish of Penpont. The document can be found here.
The plan includes a vision for the future development of the community and proposes new, individual developments and projects, as well as proposed locations for them, where relevant. These include, for example, a potential community hub for the village, affordable community housing and actions to tackle traffic and parking problems, as well as simply protecting our built heritage and beautiful countryside from inappropriate development.
The production of the plan involved a community consultation exercise which attracted 154 responses representing over 500 individuals – around 80% of the local population! – spanning all ages and including local businesses, voluntary groups and statutory organisations. Residents made their views known about services, such as roads and community transport, healthcare and education, as well as local amenities and how they link to a spatial vision.
The results were presented at feedback events in September 2024, in the Gladstone Hall in Penpont and elsewhere, as well as online, using a series of posters which summarised the comments made and the concerns and issues raised, along with a list of all the actions people said should be taken in response. People were then asked to vote to prioritise those actions (or projects) and, where possible, to pinpoint where they should happen on maps of the parish.
These preferences were collated in an interim report and subsequently a draft final report on which the Trust undertook a further statutory period of consultation, with local councillors and neighbouring community councils as well as the community. After final adjustments to take account of the feedback received, the plan was submitted to Dumfries and Galloway Council in April 2025.
The Council will now take account of the plan in its review of the Local Development Plan for Dumfries and Galloway while individual departments will be required to refer to it in the promotion and delivery of services that affect the Penpont area. Meanwhile, the KPT Development Trust, Penpont Community Council and others will continue to work on other projects listed within the LPP action plan.
(*) UK Shared Prosperity Fund Local Place Plan Grant Fund.
