Working together to benefit the Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands Convention was welcomed to Inverness today (Monday) by Councillor Sandy Park, Convener of The Highland Council, who stressed the importance of working together with the Scottish Government to deliver good quality services to local communities and sustain and enable communities in the Highlands and Islands to flourish.
Councillor Park said: “To achieve this and to maximise the resources that we can use to deliver real improvements for our communities, we need to become better at working together. I believe we are moving in the right direction, whether that is through the Single Outcome Agreements that we have signed with the Government, or through identifying opportunities to share services and locations or, indeed, through new and innovative ways of delivering these services. What matters to our communities is that we are delivering good quality services across the Highlands and Islands.”
Sustaining population, communities, the economy as well as the environment were key aims of the partners.
He said: “Effective spatial planning is the first step in building sustainable communities of the future. We already have good examples across the Highlands and Islands where local authorities and partner agencies have come together to draw up clear strategies for future population growth, increased housing provision and continued economic development.
“We need to promote these approaches and work together on sharing best practice. Critically we also need to work together on dealing with some of the challenges that implementing these strategies can throw up. Making sure the right things happen in the right place at the right time will ensure that the Highlands and Islands remains best placed to deliver the Government’s Economic Strategy and give our communities the confidence that well-planned growth can act as a major catalyst for improved infrastructure.”
Housing was at the top of the political agenda in the Highlands. The Scottish Government had set out an ambitious and innovative approach to national housing policy through “Firm Foundations” and other recent policy and funding announcements.
“We certainly welcome the priority the Scottish Government is placing on housing. The Council has set very clear and challenging targets in relation to increasing housing supply, and I know that other Convention members have similar plans and targets. All members are experiencing pressure to some extent in relation to homelessness with rising numbers of homeless people set against falling housing stock. This can be a particular issue in relation to rural communities. “
“Fuel poverty also presents particular challenges in rural communities, where fuel supply is often limited. This is an increasingly acute problem given rising fuel costs. It is ironic that while the Highlands and Islands is at the forefront of innovations in green energy production we also have the highest rates of fuel poor households in the country.”
The Highland Council, he said, welcomed the response and the Government's commitment to reforming crofting and the Crofters Commission. He added: “As long as I can remember, The Highland Council has had a deep commitment to supporting the development of our most fragile rural communities and we are well aware of the role crofting has to play. We welcome the Government's pledge to maintain and increase the amount of land held in crofting tenure and in taking special regard to the needs of new entrants. There is great scope for the Local Authorities and the Crofters Commission to work together to achieve common goals. If a co-ordinated effort is to be made to get people on to crofts, then it is up to us to provide the support and infrastructure in communities to enable crofters to contribute to the sustainable development of the Highlands and Islands.”