Author: Brian Wilson, The Scotsman

Community Land Scotland published an interesting report this week on links between the slave trade and land ownership in the Highlands and Islands.

Land in the North and West Highlands and Islands worth more than £100m at today’s values was bought with wealth derived from slavery, new research has found.

Unsurprisingly, both our indigenous gentry and their successors were up to their eyes in it.

Calum MacLeod, Community Land Scotland’s policy director, said the report reminded us how “slavery-derived wealth helped sustain and shape the pattern of monopoly private land ownership… that persists to this day”. The words “persists to this day” should concern us.

Estate boundaries were defined centuries ago. Often, the convenience of those acquiring them was in minimising the human presence. Great wildernesses were created. And in due course, these private kingdoms were handed down or sold on.

Essentially, nothing has changed. When estates change hands, the only criterion for acquisition is wealth. Nobody asks purchasers what they are going to do with them or where the money came from. At no point is there any test of public interest or need.

Two decades ago, some progress was made in redressing history, mainly in the Western Isles. Hence the existence of Community Land Scotland. But by and large, the land lottery continues. Perhaps in 200 years, someone will write a report on it.

Pressures on rural housing are being exacerbated by the pandemic with demand for scenic bolt-holes inflating prices further beyond local reach. The future of fragile peripheral communities is at stake and land ownership is crucial to outcomes.

If the will existed in Edinburgh, radical political intervention could ensure that public policy trumps the power of money. I fear that is far beyond the vision of those who talk a lot about Scotland but ignore its most basic asset.

Author: WEvolution

The Emerging Future is a Collective #GlobalSouthSeries

About this Event –SIGN UP HERE

Can the insights and solutions to some of the issues in the Global South help the UK to recover and rebuild differently in a post-pandemic era?

WEvolution’s Global South Speaker Series is an opportunity to listen to and interact with simple, inspirational and system-altering programmes and movements from founders in the Global South.

Part 2 / 4 in conversation with Salomón Raydan.

“Salomon’s work around savings and his belief that the poorest in the society have the ability to save have led to the development of a fascinating community-based banking model in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America. For the UK, this seems to be the right time to grapple with alternative financial systems where microcredit is not the answer to all our financial ills.” – Noel Mathias, Founder & MD, WEvolution

Since 1955, Salomon has dedicated himself to studying the subject of ‘emotional economy’. Financial inclusion and education are not enough; we must move forward towards ‘financial wellbeing’ and in order to achieve this, it’s important that we work on a family’s emotional relationship with money.

The Bankomunales model is based on the idea that saving is the main need of vulnerable families, as well as on the principle that bank access is not the only way to facilitate inclusion and financial education, but rather there are informal associative financial mechanisms with large cultural acceptance, which can be improved to include and financially educate the vulnerable population.

This model began to be tested in different countries on various continents and by 2015 it had been replicated in pilot projects in more than 15 countries on four continents

Since 2015 Salomon has been responsible for the replication of the Bankomunales model in 6 Latin American countries

This conversation will be hosted by Perdita Fraser. With a passion for innovation, social mobility and building cross-sector partnerships, Perdita was named as one of the “100 Women to Watch” on the female FTSE Board Report 2015. A former investment banker with JP Morgan, Perdita is a board member of the National Lottery Community Fund and the university of Edinburgh.

This event will take place over Zoom and the joining instructions will be sent following registration.

Sign up here

We look forward to seeing you there,

WEvolution

#MeetSaveCreate

This event is co-hosted by The David Hume Institute.

Author: Langholm Initiative

Community’s “impossible dream” set to come true with success for South of Scotland’s biggest community buyout

The South of Scotland’s largest community buyout is set to go ahead following one of the most ambitious community fundraising campaigns ever seen – with the community of Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway raising the final funds needed in the nick of time.

A landmark community buyout agreement of £3.8 million for over 5,000 acres of land has been reached between The Langholm Initiative charity and Buccleuch – paving the way for the creation of a huge new nature reserve to help tackle climate change, restore nature, and support community regeneration.

Discussions will continue over the remaining 5,300 acres of land the community has expressed an interest in buying.

Benny Higgins, Executive Chairman of Buccleuch, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have reached a significant agreement with The Langholm Initiative, and this deal demonstrates what can be achieved when everyone involved is committed to working together. The community has done a tremendous job in raising the funds to make this historic acquisition, and the plan to create a nature reserve has attracted widespread support. We wish the project every success.

“Engaging constructively with the communities in which we operate as a business is important to us. We have a long-standing policy of reducing our overall footprint to enable us to invest in other projects, and will continue this policy of selling land to interested farmers, community bodies and organisations which express an interest.”

Margaret Pool, Chair of The Langholm Initiative, said: “This is an amazing result for Langholm which will live long in the memory. Our community has a strong cultural connection to this land, which has never been sold before, and securing it for generations to come means so much to so many. Huge thanks to Buccleuch for their positive engagement.”

Roseanna Cunningham, Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Land Reform, said: “The completion of The Langholm Moor project is a momentous moment for land reform in Scotland. The project secured a £1 million Scottish Land Fund grant in June, and it is of great testament to The Langholm Initiative that they have secured additional funding, and worked collaboratively with Buccleuch Estates, to bring 5,000 acres of land into community ownership. I commend both The Langholm Initiative and Buccleuch Estates for enabling the buy-out to be completed.

“This is significant news for the South of Scotland but also demonstrates that, when working together with a shared goal, local communities can be a power vehicle for change. I applaud the Initiative wholeheartedly for realising their ambition and look forward to it inspiring other community groups to drive and deliver their own projects right across the country.”

The purchase – to be finalised by January 2021 – will lead to the creation of the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, with globally important peatlands and ancient woods restored, native woodlands established, and a haven ensured for wildlife including rare hen harriers. The project will also support community regeneration, including through plans for the community to capitalise on new nature-based tourism opportunities.

The Langholm Initiative had until 31 October to raise the funds for a deal, to avoid the Scottish Land Fund withdrawing their £1 million offer – a proviso that left the community with just months to raise millions of pounds. At times during the summer, the project appeared to be seriously at risk.

In the run-up to the deadline, Buccleuch Estates and The Langholm Initiative agreed a revised £3.8 million price for the purchase.

With The Langholm Initiative still requiring substantial funding in the final weeks, £500,000 was secured from the Bently Foundation. Camille Bently, Director of the Bently Foundation, said: “The Bently Foundation is delighted to support this community-led environmental project. We wish them every success and look forward to visiting the new Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in future.”

During the final week, an extraordinary surge of more than £50,000 donations to the charity’s public crowdfunder – including £24,000 on one day alone – saw the appeal’s £200,000 target achieved. Nearly 4,000 people have supported the crowdfunding appeal since its launch on 7 May.

In the final 48 hours before the deadline, and with the community still some £150,000 short of the total funds needed, The Woodland Trust agreed to contribute £200,000 to the project – taking The Langholm Initiative over the line.

Carol Evans, Director of Woodland Trust Scotland, said: “We are thrilled to support The Langholm Initiative’s exciting plans with a financial contribution and help deliver new native woods set in an appropriate mosaic of other habitats at Langholm. The world faces a climate emergency and a biodiversity crisis. This initiative is a fightback against both threats.”

John Watt, Scottish Land Fund Committee Chair, said: “This is a momentous day for The Langholm Initiative and the wider community, who have pulled together and worked extremely hard over recent months to meet their fundraising goal. On behalf of the Scottish Land Fund, a huge congratulations to everyone involved. We are proud to be able to support them with a £1 million award that will contribute to their exciting community ownership plans.”

Langholm Initiative project leader Kevin Cumming said: “The support for our vision has been overwhelming. We can never thank the major donors and thousands of members of the public enough for their contributions. A team of dedicated people have worked tirelessly to achieve something special here – mostly volunteers, who continued to strive to make this happen against what at times felt like impossible odds.

“Community ownership can be a catalyst for regeneration, which we want to show can be done with the environment at its heart. We hope the success here will encourage and inspire other communities in Scotland and across the UK. Realizing the full potential of community ownership will take time – and the hard work is really just about to begin.”

Other major funders to the buyout include South of Scotland Enterprise, John Muir Trust, Carman Family Foundation, and Garfield Weston Foundation.

Other leading charities that have supported the buyout include Borders Forest Trust, Rewilding Britain, RSPB Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, and Trees for Life.

The Langholm Initiative, formed in 1994 as one of south Scotland’s first development trusts, facilitates projects making a lasting difference to the local area and people. See langholminitiative.org.uk.

Author: Morvern Community Woodlands

A statement from Morvern Community Woodlands

Friday 30^th October 2020

We have had the results of the Morvern community ballot on Killundine. After the votes were counted there were 103 votes in favour and 142 against. This is a definitive no vote and we will not be progressing with the project. In the last week, with some extremely hard work by our volunteers, we had lined up over £1.4 million in charitable funding for this project, mostly from benefactors, which would have guaranteed the purchase of the estate and initiated its redevelopment, providing jobs and housing for local people and restoring the buildings and environment. We also had over £20,000 pledged in donations which would have come into the community. This will not now happen. We are disappointed in this but at the same time we wish the future owners of Killundine, whoever they may be, every good wish in redeveloping the estate in the way they see fit, and hopefully in a way which is of benefit to the community.

MCW are hugely grateful for all the fantastic help and support for the Killundine Estate purchase both locally, nationally, and internationally. Donations can be returned; please see the note regarding this on the LocalGiving page and updates will be provided soon.

Further information about the bid to buy Killundine is archived on our website. Click here

Thank you.

A community campaign to protect former playing fields in Glasgow from developers has succeeded after a 25-year battle.

The bid to save the area, which was cleaned up and renamed the Children’s Wood and North Kelvin Meadow, has involved public hearings and protests.

Over the years it has been backed by teachers, climate campaigners and celebrities.

As a result Glasgow City Council has now granted a community asset transfer.

A local charity, which runs the site in Maryhill, had submitted an application to have the area transferred to the community last year.

However, while they awaited the outcome, the council inserted a clause allowing them to take back an undefined part of the land at any point for “educational purposes”.

This triggered fears the site could be built on in the future but, following an online public hearing, it was withdrawn and the group were granted a 25-year lease for the land.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The committee approved the removal of the condition, as requested by the Children’s Wood.”

Prof Niamh Stack, chair of the Children’s Wood, described it as a “community anchor” which is especially valuable in the current climate.

She said: “The Children’s Wood is so much more than just a physical space: it is a hub of community actions that can now be determined by, and for, that community.”

Emily Cutts, director of the charity, praised the councillors who voted to support the asset transfer and back the community’s “shared vision”.

She added: “The land, and what happens on it, is a model for how we can create sustainable, playful and resilient communities.

“Given the year we have all had, we needed this news now more than ever and it takes a large weight off our community.

“I hope our historic agreement with the council inspires others to create and support outdoor community spaces for all to use, particularly with children in mind. When children are at the heart of a project it brings everyone together.”

Marguerite Hunter Blair, chief executive of Play Scotland, described the success as a “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow moment” for locals.

And local resident and actor Tam Dean Burn said: “It’s inspiring that Glasgow Council have recognised and endorsed the true value of this wonderful green space with this decision.

“I’m hugely excited at how the community self-empowerment that got us here can now further develop as a shining example to other areas of Glasgow and beyond in desperate need of such grassroots sanctuaries.”

In 2016 the Scottish government blocked controversial plans for a new housing development on the site at Clouston Street, which had fallen into disuse.

The move came 11 months after councillors took the unusual step of backing the controversial housing development and the opposing community use plan.

Author: Aleks Berditchevskaia, Bulent Ozel , Sander van der Hoog, Fang-Jui Chang,  Oguzhan Yayla , Oliver Burgess

Civic Ai Toolkit (11.7 MB)

This toolkit is for civil society organisations and local authorities who want to empower communities to address the climate crisis, using AI to help manage, maintain and augment civic assets.

Organising large scale community responses can be a messy and complicated task, but AI can help cut through this complexity to coordinate action. Civic AI is a research project exploring where AI can help equip communities with the tools to collectively respond to the climate crisis and achieve the 2050 target of a carbon-neutral economy. Developed by Dark Matter Labs and Lucidminds and supported by Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design (CCID), it builds on CCID’s research that explores how novel forms of combining artificial intelligence and the collective intelligence of people can better address significant social challenges.

What is collective intelligence?

Collective intelligence is the enhanced capacity that is created when people work together to mobilise a wider range of information, ideas and insights in order to solve problems. In the 21st century this means connecting contributions from diverse groups of people, novel sources of data (e.g. from mobile phones and satellites) and technologies like artificial intelligence.

What is in this toolkit?

The Civic AI toolkit contains three “strategic blueprints” or visual guides that map out the different components (datasets, digital infrastructure, AI models, community contributions, etc) making up an open public service ecosystem and describe how the different parts interact.

Each blueprint explores a unique scenario where people and machines work collaboratively as part of a collective response to the climate crisis. Within the scenarios, AI is used as a tool to enhance a community’s collective intelligence, to help align actions, reduce associated costs, and advance the value of collaboration.

The three scenarios we address are:

Connected urban forest

How can AI and CI help communities measure and analyse the impact of urban trees, in order to justify the need for their investment?

Collective climate action

How can AI & CI help communities develop collective understanding of common goals, simulate the impact of and commit to climate actions?

Participatory energy

How can AI and CI help communities set-up, operate, maintain and model the financial and social outcomes of community energy initiatives

Who should use the blueprints?

We have developed these blueprints as tools for organisations and communities acting at the local level, assuming that the open ecosystems would be developed and maintained collaboratively by multiple actors.

We hope they can:

• Help CSOs working within these areas identify specific opportunities for integrating AI into their processes or develop new tools that utilise AI
• Connect organisations working at different stages along the chain of activities who share common challenges and provide a map for aligning efforts
• Alert researchers and organisations who have domain specific expertise in AI, to new opportunities where they could apply their skills to empower communities

How to use the blueprints

Each blueprint covers five sections:

• (A) provides a visual summary of the C key stages and example interactions within each scenario.
• (B) gives a schematic overview of the processes conducted by people and machines in each of the scenarios.
• (C) details the key challenges E experienced by organisations working in these areas and a proposal for how they may be overcome.
• (D) provides details of how people (HI) and machines (AI) collaborate and the specific tasks carried out during each stage of the proposal.
• (E) summarises the civic assets which make up the proposal. These are either Tangible (physical) or Intangible (non-physical). Each component has an indicative Technology Readiness Level reflecting level of development of related technologies/projects. Components to achieve a Minimum Viable Product use case have also been highlighted.

75% of the effort will be directed towards integrating and deploying existing solutions and community engagement. The remaining focus should be on process innovation in order to create seamless experiences and wide adoption of existing AI techniques, applied in specific contexts.

Alongside the blueprint, you will find a summary of each use case and the challenges it tries to address, as well as some of the issues to be aware of with respect to AI ethics and data privacy.

The Civic AI toolkit was designed by Dark Matter Labs and Lucidminds based on their research for the CivicAI project, with advisory support from CCID.

Author: LGiU

Trust is an essential requirement in human society. A properly functioning democracy, economic activity and public services all depend on trust. Political trust matters because of its relationship to engagement or participation in politics. The John Smith Centre, a research organisation that promotes trust in public services, has published three new reports on levels of trust amongst UK adults.

Key points are:

• Since the 2008 financial crisis there has been a decline in political support and trust in key institutions but the data suggests that talk of a “crisis of trust” appears to be over-exaggerated.
• Trust is unevenly shared: there are stark differences by age, gender and different income groups. A middle-aged, professional man, earning over £60,000 a year is more likely than anyone else to believe that democracy is functioning well and in his interest; unlike the majority of the young, those on low incomes, or women.
• During a crisis like Covid-19, effective policy responses depend on people trusting the government and public authorities. Young people, women and people on low incomes have all experienced disproportionate impacts of the pandemic and may continue to bear the brunt of the economic fall-out so the trust gap has implications for policy making and communications.

This briefing will be of general interest to councillors and officers in local government and it may be of particular relevance to those with responsibility for responses to Covid-19, communications, democratic services and equalities.

Briefing in full

Background

The apparent decline in trust in politics and institutions in western democracies has been the subject of much debate in the last few decades. Researchers have attempted to measure levels of trust in different institutions and explain the trends. According to the 2019 Eurobarometer survey of public opinion across European countries, only 21 per cent of UK residents tend to trust the Westminster government (72 per cent tend not to trust it). UK residents’ trust in local authorities is considerably higher than trust in central government. 46 per cent of people in the UK tend to trust local government (compared to 45 per cent who tend not to trust it). This marked a fall of nearly 6 per cent in trust in local government on the previous year, though the rate has tended to fluctuate since the survey began – trust was at its lowest at 42 per cent in 2014 and its highest at 52 per cent in 2018.

The John Smith Centre which supports engagement in public and political life and promotes civilised debate and representative democracy in the UK, have published the findings of research produced in collaboration with the Institute of Public Policy Research Scotland and University of Glasgow. The analysis combines the findings of existing research papers on political trust with a bespoke survey of 1,424 UK adults in Scotland, Wales and England. The survey was conducted in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. The findings are presented as a trilogy of reports on trust by age, gender and income group.

The age gap

Understanding levels of trust amongst young people may shed light on young people’s political attitudes and motivations to participate in politics and public life. In the UK, trust in politicians amongst young people is low, as it is in the general population. Compared to other western European countries, trust amongst young people in the UK is below average. Meanwhile, younger people are less likely to participate in politics than older groups (particularly through voting); and the 18-24 age group report lower levels of political knowledge than older groups. Some important intergenerational differences emerged in voting behaviour between younger and older people at the EU referendum and subsequent elections. Intergenerational inequality was rising up the political agenda before Covid-19 struck but the pandemic could exacerbate inequality if young people experience ongoing economic disadvantage as a result of Covid-19. It is important to note that the field work for the survey was carried out pre-pandemic.

There are competing theories on age differences in public opinion: differences could just be a straightforward ‘age effect’ (people of a certain age tend to hold certain opinions); a ‘life-cycle effect’ (whereby people’s views change as they go through different phases of life); or a ‘generational effect’ (whereby a cohort shares views that continue as they move through the age groups, possible formed by the context in which they came of age). The report favours the ‘age effect’ theory to explain differences in levels of trust and therefore sees the survey results as grounds for some hope. However, if the effect is generational, it will be interesting to see whether the coronavirus pandemic proves to be a formative experience for today’s young people that informs their views on politics and institutions throughout their life.

Key survey findings

Figure 1 below shows the level of trust that young people have in key institutions.

Source: John Smith Centre, The Age Gap: young people and trust, 2020

• The police are the most trusted institution amongst young people, followed by the courts, high street banks and the BBC.
• Trust in political institutions is consistently low, but local councils fare better than central institutions, with just over 30 per cent expressing trust.
• Younger age groups are more likely to trust politicians and to believe they fulfil their pledges than older age groups (over 30s). Only 21 per cent of 18-24 year olds and 18 per cent of 25-34 year olds strongly trust elected politicians but older groups trust them even less.
• Of all age groups surveyed, those aged 25-34 are the most likely to trust their local MP; however, this is just one in three young people.
• Only one in five young people reported high levels of trust in the print media; young people who read the news daily or more frequently are less trusting of political institutions than their peers who read the news less frequently.

The gender gap

Women’s representation and participation in politics is substantially lower than men’s in democracies across the globe, so there is interest in women’s levels of political trust and the barriers to women’s participation in public life. Across major western economies, women have less trust than men, and the UK follows this trend. Women in the UK are less likely than men to participate in institutionalised politics (through contacting their representative or voting) but more likely to sign a petition, joining a demonstration or boycotting certain goods.

Key survey findings

Figure 2 below compares the level of trust than men and women have in key institutions. There are some marked gender differences.

• Women have lower levels of trust than men in politicians, the UK parliament, the UK government and their MP than men; women are underrepresented in these institutions which could explain their lower levels of trust.
• Women have higher levels of trust than men in local councils and the police; one explanation of this gender gap might be that women rely more on public services and have more interaction with them, fostering trust.
• 24 per cent of women agree that democracy was working well, compared to 31 per cent of men.
• 24 per cent of women agree with the statement “The people we elect as MPs try to keep the promises they made during the election campaign”, compared to 32 per cent of men.
• Women who voted remain in the EU referendum are significantly more trusting in politicians than those who voted leave, despite there being a pro-Brexit majority in the House of Commons at the point this study was conducted. The same trend was found amongst remain and leave voting men, but both groups of men had higher levels of trust than women.
• Fewer women who voted Labour at the 2017 general election have high levels of trust in politicians (one in ten) compared to Labour-voting men (one in six) – data from the 2019 election is not yet available.

The income gap

After the 2008 financial crash there was a significant decline in trust in politicians and institutions across Europe, but the declines were greater in countries that suffered the worst economic crises. This effect also holds true at the individual level: as incomes rise, so does trust in the government. The income trust gap is widest in countries with higher than average incomes:  the poorest people in rich countries are the least likely to trust the politicians and institutions that govern them.

Socio-economic status and educational attainment have been shown to be linked the levels of political participation and voting choices. Furthermore, levels of trust in democracy and institutions are related to levels of political participation (albeit the direction of causality is difficult to disentangle). People in professional and managerial jobs are far more likely to be engaged in politics and to trust institutions; whereas people in skilled, manual and casual work are more likely to believe that politicians are “self serving” and “working in the interests of the rich and powerful”. There is a clear but complex relationship between socio-economic status and political attitudes, engagement and trust, shaped by both access to education and material resources. This research paper uses personal income as a proxy for occupational group or educational attainment.

Key findings

• People earning above £30,000 a year are significantly more likely to have high levels of trust in politicians than people on lower incomes (the majority of Britons earn less than £30,000 a year).
• Fewer than 20 per cent of people who earn between £10,000 – £20,000 have high levels of trust in the UK government, compared to around 30 per cent of those earning £50,000 or above.
• 50 per cent of respondents earning £60,000 or above felt that politicians tended to keep the promises they made, compared to only 20 per cent of those earning between £10,000 – £20,000.
• People with incomes of £50,000 or above were substantially more likely to trust institutions compared to lower income groups. The income trust gap was greatest for the courts and the police; there was a smaller income effect on trust in local councils.
• Figure 3 below shows the views of people on whether democracy in the UK is working well. Those with an income between £50,000 – £60,000 were twice as likely to believe that democracy was working well than people earning between £10,000 – £20,000.

Source: John Smith Centre, The Income Gap: low income and trust, 2020

• Amongst those on low incomes (under £20,000) the highest levels of trust were in the police, the courts and the BBC; lowest levels were in politicians, the print media and the UK government; councils fell in the middle of the range

Comment

The findings of the ‘trilogy on trust’ reports provide a fascinating insight into the UK public opinion on politicians and institutions, including some significant variations between different groups. Public trust is of more than academic interest: it is important for the functioning of society, the economy and public services. As the bestselling American author and businessman, Stephen Covey said:

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

Scepticism about politicians and institutions is healthy, but cynicism weakens the “glue” and makes it difficult for public services and political life to function effectively. It is clear than many in the UK are distrustful of political leaders and public authorities. The John Smith Centre hopes that its research stimulates debate as to why trust is so low and what can be done about it.

The gap in trust should be of concern to the government as it grapples with the response to the Covid-19 health pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis. Where levels of trust are lower, people are more likely to expect laws to be broken or disobeyed. It may be harder for public policy to work as intended. Guidance may not be followed and laws may not be complied with. This creates both a credibility problem and a practical enforcement problem for the government, police and local authorities. Trust is also integral to effective communications; communications professionals may need to adapt communications strategies, messaging and channels to overcome the trust gap in different sections of the population.

Although there is evidence that local government is consistently better trusted than central government, there is no room for complacency as trust in local government overall has hovered between only 40-50 per cent for most of the last decade. On the positive side, there is no evidence of a significant downward trend, but behind the headline data there may be significant variations in levels of trust amongst different groups within the community. Local councils should be aware of this context to policy making and the implementation of local initiatives.

The John Smith Centre survey provides only limited data on trust in local councils. For instance, councillors were not mentioned specifically, instead participants were asked about trust in “elected politicians” – it is unclear whether participants had councillors in mind when they answered. Clearly it is possible that trust in local authorities varies between different places but the survey sample was presumably too small to yield useful geographical information on this. Local authorities who wish to gain a better understanding about residents’ levels of trust may wish to include suitable questions in their own residents’ opinion surveys.

Author: Severin  Carrell, The Guardian

An energy company is investigating how an underwater cable connecting the Western Isles with mainland Scotland was cut suddenly, causing a blackout that affected roughly 18,000 homes.

The 20-mile (32km) cable, which runs on the sea bed from Skye to Harris, failed without warning six days ago.

That forced Scottish and Southern Energy Networks to call on a diesel-fuelled power station in Stornoway to provide back-up electricity, and airlift extra diesel generators from the mainland in case Stornoway’s turbines fail.

SSEN announced on Thursday that the 33,000V cable was unrepairable, adding that it could take between six months and a year before a new cable could be commissioned and laid.

It believes the breach happened at a depth of over 100 metres about 15km offshore from Skye, and is now investigating whether it was cut by a trawler or another vessel. SSEN has asked for local shipping records so that it can pinpoint which vessels were in the area at the time the cable failed.

Mark Rough, the company’s director of customer operations, said: “We’re acting as quickly as possible to progress this significant cable replacement project.

“We’d like to reassure our customers that our well-established resilience plans are in place to maintain power supplies to local homes and businesses as we source and install the new cable.”

John Cunningham, head of the energy unit at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the local council, said he and the council’s leader, Roddie Mackay, had met SSEN earlier on Thursday and had been reassured that the company was working hard to restore supplies.

Cunningham said the delay in replacing the cable was due to the difficulty of commissioning a new subsea cable of such length at short notice. SSEN said it also needed to hire the right vessels to carry out the work, but it could install a bigger cable, with greater capacity.

The cable’s failure has major implications for the islands’ windfarms and small hydro-schemes, which are community-owned. With a total capacity of 21.5MW, they export electricity to the National Grid, raising money for local communities and investors.

They have rent, wages and other costs to pay, and are counting on their insurance policies to cover income losses of up to a year, Cunningham said.

“The council has very ambitious green ideas,” he said. “We’re looking to be net-zero by 2035, 10 years earlier than Scotland as a whole, so it’s disappointing to be running the whole system on diesel at this point in time.”

Author: SCCS

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland is a diverse coalition of over 50 civil society organisations in Scotland campaigning together on climate change. 

Click here to view Frequently Asked Questions on COP26

Author: Co-signatories

TO WHOM sustaining Highland and Island communities is a concern,

Press coverage over the past week has again brought to light the ongoing issues pertaining to housing in the Highlands and Islands. A robust outburst of opinions on social media from young people (largely though not exclusively) local to the Highlands and Islands, clearly showed that the post-Covid exacerbation of housing issues is of widespread and urgent importance. I have lifted some of the views made by young islanders and highlanders for inclusion below, so their shared views do not remain hidden on distant social media feeds.

As young and active members, mostly of the Uist community, we would be willing to see a trial carried out in Uist, in an effort to find a suitable solution for all of the Highlands and Islands.

• We propose that when a house comes onto the market, that it is initially advertised locally, giving the community first refusal or opportunity for compulsory purchase, prior to its listing on the national market.
• Several of the undersigned are members of a group in Uist that has been discussing and working towards positive housing opportunities for young people in Uist. This group’s strong community network could act as a conduit for articulating house availability with interested young and local islanders.

A recent example of a house in Uist becoming available for rental shows the scope for positive action. The owner agreed that the house should first be advertised to young locals, and a number of applications were received. They seized this opportunity to invest in the community by offering the house to a returning young couple with 3 children. This is exemplary of the significant impact one house can have on a small community – if only this was more widespread.

We have first-hand examples of local young people, professionally qualified, putting in offers for houses, and despite communicating to sellers the importance of population retention, cash-rich buyers often jump in front and buy houses which often have not been viewed (this can be verified by asking the solicitors who have processed the sales) – and in the worst examples, the island not yet visited! The cultural and historical continuum of these buildings has so often been broken: the opportunity for the community to reciprocally gain from local entrepreneurs using former churches or post offices as musical production hubs or artist residency homes for the benefit of many, often lost to the unlit rooms of the part-time residency.

Demographic projections for the islands, including the recent statistics on average population age, show an ever ageing and shrinking picture for the Highlands and Islands. The vitality of our island communities is reliant on support to our younger generations and any effort to help them must be made. Recent research in Uist has shown clearly a great increase in young individuals and families moving to and returning to the islands. But they, and the many more who wish they could likewise move to the islands, find that housing is now forming the primary inhibiting factor.

Furthermore, the number of young people wishing to return home following Covid-19 is continuing to rise, especially when connectivity is enabling people to work from homes in rural areas more than ever. Homes – dachaigh and dualchas – are as important as ever; but just as the infrastructural disparity between rural and urban areas is being reconciled, finally opening up a huge array of work opportunities in the Highlands and Islands, a new barrier is halting this progress. Addressing the housing situation would allow for communities to retain far more working professionals now that the broadband coverage is growing and with remote working becoming the preferred working model for many companies.

At a time when the recently published UHI research (‘The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community’) has stimulated positive discussions and actions among young Gaels, it must be stressed that the present housing situation will be remembered far less favourably – as a significant factor for both the loss of Gaelic and indeed the viability of these communities. Were the housing situation to be remedied, it would emphatically aid the sustainability of the Gaelic community.

Historian Professor James Hunter wrote of historical settings in which Gaels were cleared off the land, not just physically, but because of the social and economic circumstances. Today it is remarkably similar. As one young islander said this week: “this is economic clearance”. Locals are unable to buy houses in their communities and are being kept out against their will. The fabric of our Gaelic language, our crofting, and our Highland and Island communities is being unwoven.

Tourism and second homes are not new issues, but in the recent weeks major cross-community discussions have taken place around the ongoing management strategies and ways of mitigating problems which accompany such events. There are many examples from across Europe from which we can learn from – including the proposal outlined above.

The current situation in much of the Outer Hebrides is on a knife edge; that which has already occurred in some Highland and Island communities is just about to materialise in Western Isles. An article in the Press and Journal on August 17th brought this to light, as well as articles last week by the National and the BBC which revealed the great increase in house purchases post-Covid in the Outer Hebrides.

As the communities of Tiree and West Harris find themselves with 40% of their housing stock as holiday homes, we the undersigned believe that this is not the best way for our communities to thrive and therefore are determined to halt the current trajectory of spreading this statistic to all of the Highlands and Islands. We believe that policies and actions need to be implemented immediately so as to avoid the unwanted situations which have arisen around the country. Part-time residencies do not sustain our communities and we should therefore ensure that houses are bought with the intention of being a primary residency.

Inaction will allow this economic clearance to be consolidated in history. We implore you to consider change urgently, and to consider the above proposal. Our young housing group is happy and willing to engage in discussions with you.

Le gach deagh dhùrachd,

Pàdruig Morrison (Grimsay, Uist) – crofter, PhD researcher, musician, An Lòchran board member

Kenneth MacLean (Carinish, Uist) – crofter, fishfarmer, North Uist Agricultural Society Vice Chair

Martin Baillie (Sleat, Skye) – architect, Gaelic campaigner

Liam Crouse (Lochboisdale, Uist) – PhD researcher

Innes MacQueen (Isle of Luing, Argyll) – Gaelic Development Officer

Emma Axelsson (Lochboisdale, Uist) – Social Enterprise employee, businesswoman

Fiona NicÌosaig (Cnoc an Tòrrain, Uist) – Social Enterprise employee, crofter

Joe Newman (Ardnamonie, Uist) – Project Manager

Ross Wilson (Isle of Mull) – music producer, musician

Rona MacKay (Benbecula) – Social Enterprise