Local economy: economic regeneration, unemployment, stemming depopulation
Contemporary economic life regards work as a necessary evil and flows from the focus on economic growth. The Bible on the other hand has a very high view of work and regards economics as humanity’s stewardship of God’s creation.
Economic regeneration is often equated with short-
I would like to work with the powers that be in the new Parliament to channel resources into and around these islands to get self sufficiency and sustainability in as many areas of our economy as practicably possible. We are not looking for charity – we want help to help ourselves.
One of the key areas we need to develop is entrepreneurial spirit. We have plenty of bright students but they tend to find their niche elsewhere. I would like to encourage a concept that I have called “Caraidean nan Eilean” which would be a group of entrepreneurs from around the world with Hebridean connections who would give a little of their time to encourage, develop and mentor budding businessmen in the Hebrides.
Traditional industries
Fishing
The seas around these islands have been heavily depleted of fish particularly over the last 20 years. The reasons are many and varied but when you see large fishing vessels from outwith these islands working in all weathers and sometimes very close to shore it is clear that such activity is not sustainable.
I am no expert but I believe that we could learn a lot from the Faroese and the Icelanders on how to develop sustainable fisheries. It is also clear that investment is needed to enable the more enterprising of our young fisherman to get larger vessels to operate west of the Hebrides.
Harris Tweed
The Harris Tweed industry is beginning to find its feet again thanks to the innovative efforts of the Mills at Shawbost and Carloway. These bold initiatives need all the business and marketing assistance they can get as it is only through the winning of orders and the training of staff that jobs can be created in what was once the herring bone of our community.
Crofting
It is very, very difficult to make a living from crofting alone, but together with
other complementary work it provides the catalyst for a vibrant and sustainable community.
If townships were able to have additional income from renewable energy projects these
proceeds could be re-
For the islands to thrive crofting needs to work and appropriate targeted assistance needs to be provided until the communities can support themselves.
One of the difficulties that I personally have experienced is the complexity of the procedures necessary to get financial assistance and I feel that this could be much improved by having direct account manager assistance for individual and township schemes.
Salmon farming industry
Salmon farming has and will no doubt continue to have an important role in the islands
economy. The value to the islands is nowhere better seen than when the marine activity
is supplemented by the on-
Support for new businesses, rural business
New businesses are often seen as risky and sometimes have difficulty getting support. However these businesses have the potential to create employment and to stimulate economic activity and support for them must be a key element of any economic strategy for this area.
In rural and remote area there is a need for increased support to offset the additional
costs particularly of transport. This should be seen as investment as the creation
of job opportunities in peripheral areas provides the catalyst to enable people to
stay there and thereby reduce the ongoing trend of out-
Housing
The demand for housing is most pressing in the areas of concentration and particularly Stornoway and this has the potential to do away with the greenbelt as Stornoway expands.
I believe specific encouragement is required to develop more houses in the rural and remote areas. This will not be effective without work opportunities. Indeed these two issues need to be developed together.
There is a clear case for Communities to promote renewable schemes with the proceeds being made available to invest in economic development opportunities and the Housing Strategy should be aligned with these opportunities as they develop.
It would also be helpful to make areas of land available for young people in the communities so that they could build a house and thereby have a physical asset in the islands. It would be important to have conditions which would mean that it could not just be sold on quickly. Many of our young people are resourceful and have friends who would help them build but the problem is getting an affordable place to build.
Environment
Wise stewardship of God-
Waste must be reduced and built-
Local Government
Council Tax
I am not for changes to the local taxation system. I believe we have much more important fiscal issues to deal with and tampering with the Council Tax system would be unhelpful.
Right to buy Council Houses
The right to buy is good in that it incentivises people to have their own home and look after it. But, we do have to be careful that there is sufficient public sector housing available.
Recently reduced central funding
It is unlikely that this will improve in the next few years and therefore it is imperative that best use is made of the resources available.
Windfarms
My experience in going round the area from Ness to Shawbost at the 2007 Holyrood election was that about 80% of those I met were against the proposed 600MW Lewis Windfarm. They were not against renewables or necessarily against windpower, but they were against the scale of the proposed development.
That shows that you can’t take the people’s support for granted and that it would
be much better to build confidence with community based energy schemes before considering
larger schemes. In my view the areas around Muirneag and the Bragar hills would be
more appropriate for larger turbines and the community should be involved in pursuing
the issue of designations which currently means that these areas are no-
We also have some of the best un-
Sabbath Observance
Sunday Ferries
I am personally not in favour of Sunday ferries and I have expressed my views on
the Stornoway -
Sunday ferries can be a good thing if you need or want them, but they are not a good thing if you don’t. The issue for me is rather who should decide.
A Sunday ferry was provided by CNES to Eriskay because the elected representatives wanted it. A Sunday ferry was not provided by CNES to Berneray because the elected representative did not want it.
The elected representatives in the shape of the local authority did not want the introduction of Sunday ferry sailings on the Stornoway – Ullapool route, but the elected representative to the Scottish Parliament was mostly silent on the issue and the company (a company wholly owned by Scottish Ministers) decided to introduce the service.
In my view, this was not done without the tacit agreement of Scottish Ministers.
Don’t be fooled -
Sports Centre
As with ferries, I am of the view that this is a matter for our elected representatives and in the case of the Sports Centre this is essentially the domain of CNES.
If the people want the Sports Centre to open on a Sunday, then let them elect people who hold that view. To date, they have not. I don’t think CNES should bow to intimidation from whatever source.
The Bible is a clear manual for how to make best use of our bodies and I believe that the rest of Sunday is part of that.
My family have been involved in a range of sporting activities and have not been inhibited in their development by not having access to a Sports Centre on Sunday.
Gaelic Language
I am a fluent Gaelic speaker and my three children went to a Gaelic Medium school in Stornoway. As a family, we are committed to supporting the Gaelic language.
I have seen a significant decline in the attendance of Gaelic Church services over
the last number of years with the age of those attending getting older. However,
in our own congregation, we have seen a lot of interest in historic Gaelic sermons
which we have put on-
We need to have all the agencies involved in the development of Gaelic working together with other active participants in the communities to develop a range of initiatives to encourage young families not to be ashamed of their heritage and to take heart from other lesser used languages of Europe.
Local issues -
