Commenting on the statement by Ch. Supt Julian Innes that the police believed the rise in shoplifting in the Highlands and Islands was as a result of people struggling to feed themselves.
John said:
“The police service works in our communities. They understand our communities.
“When we have a senior figure like Chief Superintendent Julian Innes, who is well respected, laying out very, very clearly that people are stealing foodstuffs to sustain their living, then that’s a shocking state of affairs. I do not believe that Ch. Supt Innes would have said what he did without serious evidence to the case.
“Of course there have always been thefts, and no-one is condoning theft for one second, but in the past it has been thefts of luxury items. These thefts are obviously not luxuries , they are for the basics.
“These are obviously people who are hard pressed, people who are in dire straits. We have heard of cases from across the UK of those who have had benefits sanctioned needing to resort to theft in order to eat. That it may now be happening in the Highlands and Islands is utterly depressing. The UK Government cannot continue to turn a blind eye to stories of such desperation. I am writing to the UK Government urging them to tackle such desperation.”
There’s great news for John and his fellow local campaigners, as government officials recommend that Knocknagael Farm in the south of Inverness should be kept in agricultural use.
The Scottish Government reporters’ ‘Examination Report’on the proposed Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan was issued on Friday 20 March. In it, the reporters call on Highland Council not to go ahead with their proposed allocation of the Knocknagael site, currently part of the Crofting Commission’s bull stud, for housing developments.
John initiated the campaign to retain food production on the site, ideally as a community farm or as allotments, over two years ago. He began a Save Knocknagael Farm Fields Facebook group to rally support, and has regularly questioned Ministers at Holyrood over their plans for the site. In December last year, he chaired the inaugural meeting of the Knocknagael Allotments Project, jointly organised by Holm Community Council and Lochardil & Drummond Community Council.
John said today:
“This recommendation is a great victory for local people who have been campaigning for years to save Knocknagael for agricultural use. Government reporters generally aren’t swayed by public opinion, so this result is a testament to the campaigners’ hard work and expertise in making a watertight case that the reporters could not ignore.
“The reporters’ recommendation hinged on local campaigners demonstrating that the Knocknagael Farm was ‘prime agricultural land’, and that to concrete over it would run in the face of existing policy not to build over such land unless there is no alternative. The campaign was also able to show that there is a good supply of alternative sites to build the high-quality housing Inverness undoubtedly needs.
“Hopefully now the Scottish Government will be able to look beyond its short-sighted proposal to sell of Knocknagael to developers, and instead enter into a discussion with local people about how best to use this fantastic food-producing land. There is an active community ready and willing to practice what the Government preaches on land reform, healthy food and tackling climate change – this land could give them that chance.”
The final stage of the process is for Highland Council to produce a final version of the Local Plan, which is expected to incorporate the reporters’ recommendations, and then vote to formally adopt it at a meeting of the Council
John Finnie has called on the Scottish Government to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable land use by saving agricultural land it owns near Inverness.
Part of the government-owned Knocknagael Stud Farm on the south side of the city is earmarked to be sold off to developers, but community groups are calling for the land to be used for community food production, including new allotments.
John welcomed Nicola Sturgeon’s assurance of radical action on land reform, and called on the Scottish Government to live up to its promise to ‘lead by example’. He said:
“Going back to my time as the local councillor, there was uncertainty about the future of Knocknagael Stud Farm, so I was among those who welcomed its retention and recent substantial upgrade.
“Unfortunately the Government’s accountants thought the best way to pay for that upgrade was by selling off two of the Farm’s fields to a developer. In their first attempt at disposal, the Scottish Government failed to follow its own guidelines on best planning practice and rightly withdraw their application.
“Future generations would rightly question why a government which purports to understand the challenges of climate change and the need to ensure effective land use and local food production would show such scant regard to good agricultural land it owns.
“So, radical land reform, welcome as it is, is only part of the story. The Government says it plans to ‘lead by example’ so let see them do that.
“This coming Monday I will chair a meeting of a community group, brought together by Lochardil and Drummond and Holm Community Councils, who would like to use the land for allotments. I plan to ensure the Scottish Government’s ‘community empowerment’ and ‘sustainable land use’ credentials are tested, and that this land isn’t sold off but kept for community food production.”
Knocknagael Bull Stud Farm is part of the bull hire scheme that has been funded and operated by the Government since 1897, enabling crofters to access high quality bulls and supply quality calves to the beef industry throughout Scotland. For details of the plan to upgrade the Stud Farm see the Scottish Government press release.
