New residents
What the islands thrive on is fresh blood coming in and bringing new skills, experiences and knowledge into the community. Working with the current residents brings rewards and enriches us all. Heaven knows, the islanders have done the same in every corner of the world.
What the islands don't need is house price speculation with non-residents cornering the market and pricing everyone else out - it's not like you can commute here to work.
It is good to see such a positive article in this weekend's Financial Times magazine, together with lovely photos and descriptions of how hard, but rewarding, it can be to live here, especially for those who have downsized and turned to crofting for a living.
What the islands don't need is house price speculation with non-residents cornering the market and pricing everyone else out - it's not like you can commute here to work.
It is good to see such a positive article in this weekend's Financial Times magazine, together with lovely photos and descriptions of how hard, but rewarding, it can be to live here, especially for those who have downsized and turned to crofting for a living.
7 comments:
Oooh la-de-da Financial Times magazine!
Who the hell gets that in the Western Isles apart from bloody accountants!
Angus - you'll need to 'cut and paste' critical bits for us to read if you want comments.
Sorry, the link to the article has now been added.
Thanks and sorry - I didn't mean to swear or appear rude. That's not my usual style.
When are you going to give us something on the incomers Manson, Fordham, and Currie, and their shinanigans with local boy Smith?
Glad you appreciate incomers but who the hell would want to move there if there's a bloody great turbine in their back yard? Might as well stay in the industrialised heartland of England and get all the 'benefits' that you seem to think are here.
Point 1 - if you get a turbine in your back yard you get personal cash not just community benefit.
Point 2 - it's mostly the incomers that are against the turbines as they will spoil their views.
I always thought those against windfarms felt that way because of their environmental impact but what I'm hearing now is that if they were 'community' windfarms as opposed to SSE/AMEC windfarms they would be OK!
There's a real danger here that the big farms won't get permission but 'community' windfarms will spring up around every corner instead!
Anon 8:14 -
"Point 1 - if you get a turbine in your back yard you get personal cash not just community benefit."
Is that good for the community as a whole? Individuals cashing in like that on what is a commercially-driven 'development' is merely another form of property speculation which certainly won't help keep communities together...remember the last 5 years!
"Point 2 - it's mostly the incomers that are against the turbines as they will spoil their views."
Absolute garbage. An incredibly simplistic viewpoint (assuming you're not just trolling) which seems to indicate that you haven't had very much real discussion with the locals on the matter, especially on the west side of Lewis.
AMEC are pulling out all the stops to try to get the Scottish Government to approve this scheme, for instance check out John Price's statement in the P&J:
"We know that the Stornoway Trust have written to the minister supporting the project and 50% of the whole population of the Western Isles live on that estate."
How's that for spin? That guy should be on the front benches at Westminster.
You seem to forget it is us local people who are speculating on house sales to incomers and making hansome profits too. Others just want to get off the islands and see hosue price windfalls as their ticket out before the market crashes when the industrilisation of Lewis you so crave commences - lots of cheap houses then.
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