ARIANE BURGESS: Giving communities in north Highlands the power to shape their own future
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Holyrood Notebook by Ariane Burgess
When I meet people who haven't seen me since I was elected to the Scottish Parliament, they usually come around to ask: "Are you enjoying the role?"
Unequivocally I respond: "Yes."
A big part of my "yes" is the opportunity I have as an MSP to help communities shape their places, especially as we all take on the urgent need to tackle the twin emergencies of climate and nature. Communities are best placed to do this but need national and local government support.
There's no doubt about it, due to these twin emergencies, we all must change how we live our lives.
Everywhere I go, I meet people who are making those changes. But we urgently need the infrastructure to be in place to help us make those changes more quickly.
Recently I've been talking with people from communities and local authorities about community wealth building. Community wealth building could help us get the infrastructure needed in place, with communities leading the way.
Community wealth building is a term that describes five bold actions that can be taken to ensure that wealth is created in the local community by the community, and improves the lives of the people there.
The five actions include – local ownership of land and property, local procurement, ownership of the economy through multiple community-owned businesses in the form of employee-owned cooperatives and social enterprises, fair work and employment, and local finance.
There's a buzz in Scotland now about community wealth building in part because, as part of the agreement between the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Government, there's a commitment to bring forward a Community Wealth Building bill, and the consultation is currently under way until May 9.
In many ways, community wealth building is something communities across Highland have been doing for some time now. With the support of the community buy-out process and the Scottish Land Fund, communities can purchase land or property and find ways to make that asset generate income.
I've met communities in parts of Highland who've become anchor organisations through purchasing land and, with the help of Community Energy Scotland, have gone on to set up income-generating renewable energy projects. These projects, in turn, provide a consistent income so communities can plan for long-term action to see their communities thrive.
But it's not just renewable energy that can become an income generator. At the recent opening of Trees for Life's superb Dundreggen Rewilding Centre near Loch Ness, I recognised that Trees for Life and all the organisations that supported them with funding to build the centre had created an anchor organisation for the local community.
The rewilding centre will employ the equivalent of 20 full-time jobs, employing people from the local community. They focus on procuring the food for their café and services locally too.
Located on the road between Loch Ness and Skye, they provide an excellent service for local and international tourists while offering a fantastic opportunity for more people to learn about the importance and urgency of rewilding.
There are similar opportunities for community wealth building in the north Highlands. One example is the Melness Crofters Estate's spaceport. The spaceport will help generate income for the organisation, which in turn can support the development of housing and other job creation projects.
There is so much opportunity for communities in place already in Scotland. But it takes commitment and hard work to get the ball rolling. The Community Wealth Building bill can be part of smoothing the way.
I'm looking for ways to design better processes that truly support communities to unleash their power.
- Ariane Burgess is a Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands.
