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28th February 2024
When the Scottish Government published its latest high level planning guidance (NPF4), the twin crises of biodiversity collapse and climate change were placed front and centre and for that, it has received praise aplenty. But in our predominantly top down, centralised systems, high level guidance too often remains just that. Research commissioned by Planning Democracy and carried out by its network of supporters was reported on in the Scottish Parliament last week. The message from all parts of Scotland was loud and clear – environmental concerns are still routinely ignored by profit-hungry developers and over-stretched planners. But it needn’t be like this and a visit from a friend who lives in Spain got me thinking. In his Catalonian village of Sant Esteve de Palautordera (population – 2,500), some of his taxes are collected by the village council which in return maintains the public realm, fixes potholes, collects refuse and, most critically, determines local planning issues. High level diktats invariably arrive from Spain’s national and regional governments but the will of local people clearly has primacy on matters of local import. The Scottish Government’s consultation, Democracy Matters, closes today. Could it deliver something akin to the Catalan model? With political will, anything’s possible.
In the most recent briefing…
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On the ground
Read moreThere’s something about German football and in particular its fanbase that I like. In part it’s the control exerted by the fans over club ownership (50% +1) which limits the influence of outside investors. As a result ticket prices have remained affordable and stadiums are packed. But it goes well beyond this. The fan groups are clearly networked and work as one when it is in their interests to do so. When the German Football League decided to sell a stake in its media rights to a private equity firm, the fans told them to think again. Guess who won?
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On the ground
Read moreIt is hard to believe that in the 1950’s, a Conservative Government under Winston Churchill sponsored a UK wide chain of 2,000 restaurants – each serving a nutritionally balanced, price capped menu to the general public. Nowadays the nearest we have to such an enlightened piece of social infrastructure is the ubiquitous food bank with all its attendant lack of dignity. While Nourish Scotland is working to reintroduce and rebrand Churchill’s ‘British Restaurants’ as ‘public diners’ , interest is growing in the evolution of social infrastructure more generally and in particular how communities might take more control of it.
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On the ground
Read moreOne doesn’t have to stray far from the central belt to appreciate that reasonable access to mainstream public services can rarely be taken for granted. It is why so many communities have had to take it upon themselves to step up and fill those gaps in service provision – or simply do without. But where the service can literally be a matter of life and death, doing without isn’t really an option. With only two ambulances for the whole of Uist, a community based first responder service was desperately needed. Years in the planning, it’s now ready to respond.
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Policy talk
Read moreThis Friday, communities will officially start to benefit from a new arrangement between the Scottish Government and one of our oldest institutions – the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KILTR). Established in 1707, KILTR has long been responsible for selling property that becomes ‘ownerless’ and passing the proceeds back to the government of the day. But henceforth, for a minimal fee, these properties can be acquired by communities. And the good folk of Muirkirk in Ayrshire are about to become one of the first communities to benefit. One derelict petrol station is about to become a community garden and picnic stop.
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Policy talk
Read moreWhen a friend explained how AI played a key role in his knee replacement surgery, I began to appreciate how this bewildering technology could become a real force for good. But then I heard that an AI generated video message, looking and sounding like the CEO of a large charity, had been sent to the Chief Finance Officer authorising a large transfer of funds. How does one ever know who or what source of information to trust? I’m not sure why, but it feels that projects such as The Beacon are about to become more important than ever.
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Policy talk
Read moreIrrespective of where you sit on the political spectrum, there seems to be a rock solid consensus that the current arrangements for Scotland’s governance are badly in need of reform. The unionist think tank, Our Scottish Future, recently proposed something akin to the regional authorities of yesteryear along with Andy Burnham-style elected mayors as one of many suggestions to reduce the centralisation of power in Edinburgh. With Democracy Matters closing today, a window of opportunity is opened. Hopefully those commentators who sit in the community corner such as Lesley Riddoch and Joyce McMillan will get a fair hearing too.
Featured anchor organisation:
WHALE Arts Agency
When construction of Edinburgh’s Wester Hailes began in the late 1960’s, poor planning, lack of service provision and sub-standard housing brought the community together in a series of campaigns. While regeneration has meant that much of the initial housing stock, including 18 ‘high flats’, have been demolished, such significant physical changes impacted on the community’s social and cultural resiliance. Initiated by local people in 1992, WHALE Arts has established itself as the cultural anchor organisation for Wester Hailes. A community-led arts charity and social enterprise, its mission is to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community, a conduit…
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