Andy Wightman

[SandyCromarty]

1 hour ago, Day of the Lords said:

5 hours ago, SandyCromarty said:

About 15 years ago the local village community where I lived at the time made a bid for a community buy out, as per the 2003 land reform act, of the large woods behind my house, I was unaware of the act so looked into it's background, I was astonished to find that even before the bill was passed in 2003 landowner representatives were lobbying the Scottish government and managing to get meetings to lay down what they saw as their rights, the public in general were totally unaware of the bill yet the landowners were ahead of the game, fortunately the reform was passed and it looks after the right of the public for land access and ownership.

One of the early highlights of the various COVID-related tantrums were landowners around here demanding access laws be "temporarily" revoked. Thankfully such ridiculous pleas were filed neatly in the bin where they belonged.

It doesn't surprise me.

Anders Povslen, Scotlands biggest landowner with 220,000 acres has been accused of wanting to introduce Wolves and Lynx on one of his Highland Estates, if true it demonstrates that these Landowners need to be monitored and reined in if necessary.

[strichener]

1 hour ago, Pato said:

I dunno, there's been some pretty significant deals recently, with more in the offing:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/02/scottish-village-langholm-moor-duke-of-buccleuch

 

 

The vast majority of the funding for these "community buyouts" is from the public purse.  The Scottish Land Fund is both underfunded for the role it has been given and unnecessary if the Government were.to properly address land ownership reforms.

As I said, papering over the cracks.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

6 hours ago, SandyCromarty said:

It doesn't surprise me.

Anders Povslen, Scotlands biggest landowner with 220,000 acres has been accused of wanting to introduce Wolves and Lynx on one of his Highland Estates, if true it demonstrates that these Landowners need to be monitored and reined in if necessary.

Whilst that idea's a wee bit mental, I'd file Povslen in the non-arsehole section of large estate landowners. Glen Feshie is a superb example of rewilding and the estate is plenty welcoming to walkers. Indeed they spent an absolute fortune on the Ruigh Aiteachan bothy which outwith Covid times is, like all bothies, freely available for anyone to use for shelter. The contrast with neighbouring Mar Lodge estate is pretty remarkable. Anyone crossing from Feshie to Geldie will see what a difference rewilding can make. 

[SandyCromarty]

8 hours ago, Day of the Lords said:

Whilst that idea's a wee bit mental, I'd file Povslen in the non-arsehole section of large estate landowners. Glen Feshie is a superb example of rewilding and the estate is plenty welcoming to walkers. Indeed they spent an absolute fortune on the Ruigh Aiteachan bothy which outwith Covid times is, like all bothies, freely available for anyone to use for shelter. The contrast with neighbouring Mar Lodge estate is pretty remarkable. Anyone crossing from Feshie to Geldie will see what a difference rewilding can make. 

Yes there have been positive feedback from Povslen's hill management, the possible introduction of the aforementioned animals will raise a lot of opposition, then you have Dubai's Maktoum with his large estate  over in Wester Ross where the locals have strongly opposed his application to build a 64 room house as he says the existing 30 bedrooms are not enough, then there is the present Duke of Westminster's estate over by Kylesku which is only used a few weeks a year for shooting.

By contrast Al Fayed who owns the 65,000 acre Balnagown estate, (he has spent £20 million so far upgrading it) has become involved with the locals over at Invergordon protesting against a waste plant, he is also proposing building a 40 luxury lodge  project which will bring in work to the area. Ann Gloag  has aplied to the planners to build a holiday village near Kiltarlity. 

Sadly many other Landowners do not bring work or wealth into the area but instead see the land as for their own recreational use and an investment. Rooting them out might be impossible. Btw Al Fayed supports Scottish Independence.

[vikingTON]

26 minutes ago, SandyCromarty said:

 

Sadly many other Landowners do not bring work or wealth into the area but instead see the land as for their own recreational use and an investment. Rooting them out might be impossible. Btw Al Fayed supports Scottish Independence.

[Cyclizine]

9 hours ago, Day of the Lords said:

Whilst that idea's a wee bit mental, I'd file Povslen in the non-arsehole section of large estate landowners. Glen Feshie is a superb example of rewilding and the estate is plenty welcoming to walkers. Indeed they spent an absolute fortune on the Ruigh Aiteachan bothy which outwith Covid times is, like all bothies, freely available for anyone to use for shelter. The contrast with neighbouring Mar Lodge estate is pretty remarkable. Anyone crossing from Feshie to Geldie will see what a difference rewilding can make. 

Rewilding here in the Highlands needs to start with repopulating the land with people. So much of what we think are the wild Highlands are managed monocultures for a few landowners. Povlsen is complicit in this. Look at his opposition to the spaceport in the Far North - we need skilled jobs and opportunities as no-one is coming to replace those that move away apart from second home and Airbnb owners.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

5 minutes ago, Cyclizine said:

Rewilding here in the Highlands needs to start with repopulating the land with people. So much of what we think are the wild Highlands are managed monocultures for a few landowners. Povlsen is complicit in this. Look at his opposition to the spaceport in the Far North - we need skilled jobs and opportunities as no-one is coming to replace those that move away apart from second home and Airbnb owners.

Fair. I didn't know about the spacesport stuff tbh. My only knowledge of Povlsen is Glen Feshie because I've walked there a fair bit. 

I do spend a huge amount of time in the NW highlands (well i did until last March) and yes something clearly needs to be done in various settlements there to encourage younger folk to stay, which tackles both housing and employment opportunities. I am a bit of a hypocrite here as I have stayed in both an Air BnB (tbf the boy lived on site - he just built a wee apartment to let out in his garden) and will usually stay in cheap self-catering cottages for a week at a time. We used to camp a bit but not practical now due to my partner's disability. 

 

[SandyCromarty]

19 minutes ago, Cyclizine said:

Rewilding here in the Highlands needs to start with repopulating the land with people. So much of what we think are the wild Highlands are managed monocultures for a few landowners. Povlsen is complicit in this. Look at his opposition to the spaceport in the Far North - we need skilled jobs and opportunities as no-one is coming to replace those that move away apart from second home and Airbnb owners.

I saw an article in your Ross Shire Journal, (Apr 2020) , where tory MSP Donald Cameron, backed by Murdo Fraser, was calling for sporting estates to receive Government financial support during the Covid crisis as they are not eligible for the Small  Business Support Grant.

I am sure that the Harrow educated tory MSP Donald Cameron's request has nothing to do with the fact that he owns the £6.5 million Achnacarry Castle and the sporting estate which generates around £500,000 income per year, The Castle and Estate were handed over to him years ago from his still living father to avoid a possible £2.4 Million in Inheritance Tax on his fathers death.. 

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

34 minutes ago, Day of the Lords said:

Fair. I didn't know about the spacesport stuff tbh. My only knowledge of Povlsen is Glen Feshie because I've walked there a fair bit. 

I do spend a huge amount of time in the NW highlands (well i did until last March) and yes something clearly needs to be done in various settlements there to encourage younger folk to stay, which tackles both housing and employment opportunities. I am a bit of a hypocrite here as I have stayed in both an Air BnB (tbf the boy lived on site - he just built a wee apartment to let out in his garden) and will usually stay in cheap self-catering cottages for a week at a time. We used to camp a bit but not practical now due to my partner's disability. 

 

I think @G51's suggestions about turning the highlands into a Green energy powerhouse, with the engineering and supporting jobs and infrastructure that would come with it, is the way to go. Rewilding is a great idea for me and far better than the use of land we have now, but it's got to be secondary to a policy platform which encourages people to stay and move to the Highlands and Islands, as well as implementing rewilding in cooperation with residents of the area rather than those of us who use the Highlands as an area to visit talking about how it makes our experience better (not that I'd put you in that bracket).

Not sure if the political will is or ever will be there for the cost of such a massive set of policies, but it would also put Scotland in a very advantageous position farther down the line. 

[G51]

10 minutes ago, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

I think @G51's suggestions about turning the highlands into a Green energy powerhouse, with the engineering and supporting jobs and infrastructure that would come with it, is the way to go. Rewilding is a great idea for me and far better than the use of land we have now, but it's got to be secondary to a policy platform which encourages people to stay and move to the Highlands and Islands, as well as implementing rewilding in cooperation with residents of the area rather than those of us who use the Highlands as an area to visit talking about how it makes our experience better (not that I'd put you in that bracket).

Not sure if the political will is or ever will be there for the cost of such a massive set of policies, but it would also put Scotland in a very advantageous position farther down the line. 

The cause of the Highlands is the cause of the world my friend. If somewhere like the Highlands cannot be transformed into a green energy powerhouse, then nowhere can, and we will have failed to tackle global warming resulting in the greatest global catastrophe in history.

No pressure, then.

PS: on Povlsen, a reminder that he is an absentee landlord looking to profit by creating "rare experiences" for his exclusive guest list by introducing new species to his estates. He gives not a single f**k about anything else.

[Cyclizine]

18 minutes ago, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

encourages people to stay and move to the Highlands and Islands

I sometime reflect that I am someone who moved away and have not returned. My Caithnessian wife is the same. We moved for university and never returned properly, apart from a brief few years in Inverness. It's amazing to think that pre-Clearances there were over 65,000 living in Sutherland and Caithness. There's half that now. The population has never recovered.

I have colleagues that would love to move North, but their partners have jobs that can't be done up there and there's not the diversity of employment opportunities. People from school who still live up here are either offshore or working for council/NHS. The Dounreay jobs for life are no more. The green energy revolution seem ripe for expansion up here.

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

11 minutes ago, Cyclizine said:

I sometime reflect that I am someone who moved away and have not returned. My Caithnessian wife is the same. We moved for university and never returned properly, apart from a brief few years in Inverness. It's amazing to think that pre-Clearances there were over 65,000 living in Sutherland and Caithness. There's half that now. The population has never recovered.

I have colleagues that would love to move North, but their partners have jobs that can't be done up there and there's not the diversity of employment opportunities. People from school who still live up here are either offshore or working for council/NHS. The Dounreay jobs for life are no more. The green energy revolution seem ripe for expansion up here.

Well, hopefully a decent consequence of the last year is the realization that wfh or remote working is going to become much more of a norm. Combine this with better infrastructure for people to travel and more high quality jobs in more remote areas and that equation would start to change for people making that decision.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Genuine Hibs Fan

[Cyclizine]

Just now, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

Well, hopefully a decent consequence of the last year is the realization that wfh or remote working is going to become much more of a norm. Combine this with better infrastructure for people to travel and more high quality jobs in more remote areas mean a lot of people and that equation would start to change for people making that decision.

One of the positives to take from this pandemic is the increase in remote working. Historically, it was call centres, but if more skilled white collar jobs can be done remotely, that will help. A train line to Inverness that doesn't take twice as long as driving might help too, as well as some devolvement of local governance again.

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

1 minute ago, Cyclizine said:

One of the positives to take from this pandemic is the increase in remote working. Historically, it was call centres, but if more skilled white collar jobs can be done remotely, that will help. A train line to Inverness that doesn't take twice as long as driving might help too, as well as some devolvement of local governance again.

The key thing is the ideas are out there, in relation to you local governance point this is where the work @Pato has sited (I forget the name is it New Municipalism you shared last year at some point?) looks more and more rational.

Part of the reason I support independence and am probably still going to end up voting SNP in order to achieve that in spite of misgivings as we won't have any chance of seeing these massive systemic changes until constitutional questions are settled, and I don't see a perpetual Tory UK government doing any of it

[G51]

13 hours ago, Cyclizine said:

I sometime reflect that I am someone who moved away and have not returned. My Caithnessian wife is the same. We moved for university and never returned properly, apart from a brief few years in Inverness. It's amazing to think that pre-Clearances there were over 65,000 living in Sutherland and Caithness. There's half that now. The population has never recovered.

I have colleagues that would love to move North, but their partners have jobs that can't be done up there and there's not the diversity of employment opportunities. People from school who still live up here are either offshore or working for council/NHS. The Dounreay jobs for life are no more. The green energy revolution seem ripe for expansion up here.

I strongly connect with this.

 

Edited March 13, 2021 by G51

[SandyCromarty]

Not that long ago we had the Nigg and Ardersier yards building offshore platforms and employing thousands of men,, obviously this is no more apart from Global Energy operating the Nigg yard with it's massive dry dock for rig repairs, plus there is some ongoing rig work alongside Invergordon.

A now fix to provide jobs would be platform recycling decommissioning , overall the projected cost for North Sea decommissioning is £26 Billion by 2030, so far a Hartlepool shipyard has been utilised but surely this work should be in Scotland and the Nigg yard with it's dry dock would be ideal.

We've already seen the loss of wind farm construction in Methil and Stornaway.

All this needs to be stopped and the work I mentioned should be carried out in the country where the oil industry originated.

I know that this is in the short term and the Highlands urgently needs long term employment and stability but this could be a start.

[jamamafegan]

It doesn't surprise me.
Anders Povslen, Scotlands biggest landowner with 220,000 acres has been accused of wanting to introduce Wolves and Lynx on one of his Highland Estates, if true it demonstrates that these Landowners need to be monitored and reined in if necessary.

He’s hardly been “accused” it’s common knowledge that he is supporter of bringing back these species.

If you want to talk about reigning people in, perhaps you should look towards the ones who have turned our countryside into a wasteland and destroy our wildlife in name of grouse shooting.

PS: on Povlsen, a reminder that he is an absentee landlord looking to profit by creating "rare experiences" for his exclusive guest list by introducing new species to his estates. He gives not a single f**k about anything else.

Your last sentence is absolute rubbish. True, he is looking to profit - so what? He’s ploughing millions into the rewilding of the highlands which is a very good thing. Bringing back “new” species - although I prefer “lost” - is a core part of this.

As far as I am aware the only landowner to have successfully reintroduced species to their estate is Paul Lister in Sutherland. Povlsen to my knowledge has not yet done this.

His work is going to transform places like the Cairngorms through projects like Cairngorms Connect. It’s glorious really. Sadly you and I will be dead before we get to see it in all it’s glory.

[Futureboy]

32 minutes ago, Pato said:

A now fix to provide jobs would be platform recycling decommissioning , overall the projected cost for North Sea decommissioning is £26 Billion by 2030, so far a Hartlepool shipyard has been utilised but surely this work should be in Scotland and the Nigg yard with it's dry dock would be ideal.

I spent a bit of time working at Hartlepool just prior to the first of the Brents coming in. We had a much bigger project team than those involved in the decom job. The reality is that by the time time the topsides arrive at the quayside for destruct, it doesn't support that much employment. You are basically looking at a handful of subcontracted guys with gas axes.

I think it was the NW Hutton or Murchie which had been decommissioned before we got there, and the place resembled a giant scrapheap challenge.

Some decom work has been carried out in Scotland. Buchan A was done at Lerwick and Spirit Energy's Morcambe Bay platforms are going to Fife this year.

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Nigg is limited by the tonnage it can accommodate so it would be limited to taking smaller topsides.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Futureboy

[NotThePars]

Like and support these ideas of rewilding and ushering in a Green Industrial Revolution in the Highlands. I'm going to enter parliament with the goal of setting up real life Fortnite somewhere remote and letting all the current landowners fight their way out of the guillotine.

[SandyCromarty]

1 hour ago, Pato said:

One of the issues I'm aware of with this is there are more stringent rules on what goes into landfill etc in Scotland than in England and these companies are mostly opting for English yards for this reason. Another union dividend in action.

Knowing platforms the whole structure is metal and the majority of the work is to deconstruct for recycling.

Many years ago a company called Isleburn, based in Invergordon, deconstructed a drilling rig, areas such as the galley, recreation/cinema room, SCR's ,and switchboards  were laid out in the old smelter habitat for inspection by resalebuyers, anchors and chain, cranes and main engines were sold on, the steel structure was scrapped and I assume later recycled. I don't think much went to landfull.