Q&A: MSPs on the joys and woes of living in rural Scotland
Mike Rumbles, Edward Mountain, Gail Ross, John Finnie, Colin Smyth - Image credit: Holyrood
What are the main issues that rural constituents raise?
Mike Rumbles (Lib Dem): All rural communities are different and many have their own distinct needs. However, the issues of poor public transport, woeful telecommunication infrastructure and access to healthcare are all issues which are regularly raised with me.
Edward Mountain (Conservative): The main questions I get are on healthcare and broadband. Not surprisingly, the remoteness of the Highlands and islands make these issues very important. People believe that the lack of broadband is holding all rural businesses back. There is a genuine frustration that people are talking about 4/5G when they have no G. There is also annoyance that mobile phone coverage is so patchy.
Gail Ross (SNP): For the most part, rural constituents have the same concerns as those in urban areas: they want access to good quality local services. However, there are some unique issues. During a recent constituency tour, the issue of housing was the main concern raised everywhere I went, including at a fish farm in Loch Torridon, where staff told me that skilled job applicants were struggling to find housing. With councils always cautious to approve new housing developments, many skilled workers – whether local or intent on moving to the constituency – are struggling to find affordable accommodation.
John Finnie (Green): In my experience, constituents raise similar issues throughout the region. However, geography is often an exacerbating factor. Housing remains a significant issue for a number of reasons, not least the continuing challenge of the availability of land. Ironic, given the size of the region I represent. Many rural properties are given over to holiday lets, and whilst some are available ‘off-season’, those renting will find themselves booted out come Easter. Even that limited option isn’t available in places like Lochaber, Badenoch and Strathspey.
The delivery of health is increasingly embracing technological solutions with telehealth and remote consultation taking place. However, increasing specialisation of services means that travel, often on single track roads, is required for treatment. Public transport is generally very poor in the region, meaning that for many, car ownership is a necessity rather than a lifestyle choice.
Colin Smyth (Labour): Connectivity – or rather lack of it – is a common complaint. People in rural areas just want – and have a right to – a level playing field when it comes to access to decent mobile and broadband coverage. The Scottish Government talks about regional equity in their economic strategy, but where is the equity for businesses in rural areas when even if they can get connected to so-called superfast broadband, it is often super slow? For some of my constituents, 4G is a type of football pitch and not something they’ll get on their mobile phone anytime soon.
Other big issues are transport, in particular, cuts in bus services and a lack of trains. Did you know there are more trains that pass through Lockerbie railway station that don’t stop than there are that actually stop? Like many rural areas, the road infrastructure in the south also leaves a lot to be desired and the lack of investment in what should be key trunk roads, like the A75, A76 and A77, has had a detrimental effect on the local economy.
Many of the issues can be similar to urban areas, such as jobs and health, but the problems recruiting consultants can be more acute in rural areas. Uncertainty over Brexit is an issue being raised more and more, in particular by local farmers. There is growing frustration and anger at the lack of clarity from government over what post-Brexit support for agriculture and rural Scotland will look like.
What could be done to encourage more people to live and work in rural areas?
MR: Better access to public services, including transport, would be a good start. Rural life has a great deal to offer but it can be difficult, especially for older and more vulnerable people. It can be harder to find employment, especially for young people and skilled professionals. By developing broadband, mobile telephone coverage and effective public transport links, we could encourage more businesses to develop and create a great many more employment opportunities.
EM: The big issue, apart from broadband and health, that holds people back from moving and working in rural areas is the lack of housing. It also means that many children move out of the local area when they grow up. We need to ensure high quality housing is available but we also need to ensure well paid jobs are as well. A good house with no money is just not enough.
GR: The rollout of superfast broadband should play a big part in attracting more people to the Highlands and the fact that the government has chosen to start the R100 with rural areas is a real acknowledgement of this. By providing superfast broadband for all by the end of 2021, we should be able to ensure more people can grow businesses in the Highlands or have the ability to work efficiently from home – meaning people don’t have to choose between living in beautiful surroundings or finding work.
JF: Rather than encourage people to live and work in rural areas, current policy actively discourages or downright stops people from moving to communities which need to and want to welcome them with open arms. The UK Government’s ‘hostile environment’ immigration policy is not built with Scotland in mind. From the fishing industry in the Western Isles, to the valuable tourist trade, and our precious NHS, Scotland needs more people to support our communities.
There are many willing to come, yet the stubbornness of UK ministers prevents that. In the last session, all parties in Scotland agreed that we should reintroduce the post-study work visa, yet this was vetoed by the Tories down south. I’d like to see this kind of cross-party process open up again, looking at Scotland’s migration needs in the round. But of course, without the powers to change policy, it’s unlikely to mean anything.
CS: We need to better retain and attract young people if we want to reinvigorate and sustain our rural communities. Key to this is access not just to jobs, but high-quality, well-paid posts. These are at a premium in too many rural areas. Austerity and cuts in public spending have shrunk employment opportunities in the public sector and the gap hasn’t been filled by the pace of private sector growth, which can also often be low-paid, low-skilled jobs in rural areas.
We need to better support our local businesses to grow and tackle issues such as succession planning in farming. There is also a lack of job security. I’m currently dealing with the fallout from the planned closure of the largest private employer in Dumfries and Galloway, Pinneys of Annan, which will see an economic tsunami hit the town with a loss of 700 jobs. The real tragedy is the fact that when workers there look for alternative employment – in this case, whole families – there are few options for them. That said, many families and older people make a positive lifestyle choice to move to rural areas and contribute hugely to our communities and we do need to better promote the advantages of living in rural Scotland.
What is the best thing about living in rural Scotland?
MR: In my experience, over the past 25 years of living in rural Scotland, it is without doubt the sense of community spirit. Knowing your neighbours and getting involved in the community is so much easier in a rural context. People tend to know one another and look out more for each other too.
EM: As a parent, one of the best things about living in rural Scotland was the fact it was a great place to bring up your children. Security and the knowledge that you were part of community was and remains really important.
GR: Given I can have busy, stressful weeks in parliament, the thing I appreciate most about rural Scotland is the peace and tranquillity it can provide. Just by spending a day in the constituency, attending meetings and events, I can drive through some of the most beautiful scenery the country has to offer.
JF: Quite simply, the environment. In Scotland we are blessed with a stunning natural scenery and to have it on one’s doorstep is fantastic.
CS: I’m fortunate to live in Dumfries and Galloway and it doesn’t get much better than the outstanding natural beauty of the Lowlands. The rocky and sandy beaches of the Solway Coast, our lush forests and hills teeming with wildlife from red kites to red deer. But much as I love going for a walk on a Sunday morning on a stunning tranquil beach, more people need to experience the beauty of our region. If you haven’t been, you need to visit, and trust me, you will want to come back and back and back. Maybe it’s because we are too often overlooked and can be a bit forgotten about in the south, there is also a real sense of community and resilience and a huge amount of pride in the area.
What are the biggest challenges for anyone living in rural Scotland?
MR: It is in accepting the fact that accessing local services is that much more difficult. Whether it is having to travel miles to the local school or finding a bank within easy reach, everyone has to travel. This is made much more difficult when the bus only comes by two or three times a day, if you are lucky, and you have to rely on the car for transportation.
EM: Probably the biggest challenge is the distances that you have to travel. Going to the cinema, playing sport or visiting friends can sometimes be a real journey. I had a rugby-loving son who was lucky enough to play age group level rugby for Scotland. I have lost track of the amount of early morning starts there were. We began to think at a weekend that a 5am start was a lie in. The other challenge is knowing that when your children leave school, they will often leave the area to get a job. Accepting that is a real challenge.
GR: In my experience, access to transport links and infrastructure is an issue which touches all people in rural areas. Whether it be ensuring that business people can travel effectively between the north of Scotland and major cities, making sure there are good quality roads for local commuters or allowing older people to get out and about through regular bus services, transport links and services affect us all and we have to ensure that we keep working to improve them.
JF: As I’ve mentioned, the availability of the often unreliable public transport, which is in dire need of integration. Our young people in rural areas are often forced to move away in search of jobs, housing or even further and higher education, many of whom don’t come back to living in rural areas.
CS: Rural poverty is a huge challenge. The way government measures deprivation using so-called SIMD masks the true level. If someone in a rural area lives next to someone who is far more wealthy, which can be common, they cancel each other out in the government stats, so the plight of Scotland’s rural poor can go unnoticed. But chronic low pay as a result of the lack of well-paid jobs, a lower take-up of benefits, a shortage of affordable housing, the higher cost of living with eye-watering levels of fuel poverty and plummeting farm incomes, all mean rural poverty is rife at epidemic levels. It is a national scandal the extent to which it is being hidden.
What is your favourite rural spot and why?
MR: Picnics at the River Dee at Cambus O’May on Royal Deeside or climbing Clachnaben in Glen Dye are great things to do, but I’m not letting on where my favourite secluded place is, because if I did, it might not then be so special!
EM: Without doubt my favourite rural spot is where the A9 goes through the Drumochter Pass. Not because it is beautiful – it is – but because it is when I feel I am back in the Highlands, without doubt the best place in Scotland to live in.
GR: I struggle to pick between the great number of spots in my constituency, but two particular favourites of mine are the view towards Loch Maree as you’re driving up the west coast and Reiss Beach, where I grew up. Reiss Beach is very calming and I like to spend time there going for a jog or a walk or simply sitting watching the sea.
JF: Lochaber: it’s where I was born and bred and the quality of natural environment in Lochaber is unparalleled.
CS: There are so many – the cliffs of Mull of Galloway, the harbour at Portpatrick, a sneaky visit to Annandale Distillery, a walk through Galloway Forest or wander around Caerlaverock Castle. But there is a lovely, quiet beach called Castle Point near the village of Rockcliffe on the Solway Coast. Its tranquillity and beauty sums up the best of rural Scotland for me, but it’s also where I proposed to my wife. I wrote ‘Will you marry me’ along the beach with a large stick when she wasn’t looking, got down on one knee, pointed to it and popped the question. She’s an English teacher so the first thing she said was, “You forgot the question mark” but fortunately, she then said yes!
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