It will not have escaped your attention that the Scottish Parliament elections take place on May 6.
The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) are, therefore, publishing proposals for what we would like to see in parties’ manifestos that would be helpful to crofting. There is a mixture of crofting specific measures, agriculture/trade issues, and general concerns that affect everybody in the Crofting Counties.
Agricultural support payments need to be maintained in the short term and looking ahead new support systems will address climate change and need to be accessible to small units and common grazings.
Biodiversity, the environment and carbon capture are important, as are food production and population retention. Support needs to target disadvantaged areas more effectively and if we are to reduce carbon emissions by becoming more efficient then advisory services need to target crofts not just bigger farms.
Post-Brexit trade deals must not lower standards and undercut home producers. There need to be support schemes in place in case sheep prices collapse if export markets are lost.
There should be support to build up the home market and to keep supply chains short and accessible to small producers – local abattoirs, a croft produce mark etc. The gaps in the Brexit trade deal need to be plugged – for seed potatoes and the export of breeding animals.
Lack of affordable housing is rife so the Croft House Grant Scheme needs more money and a loan element – it is a very effective scheme. Planning also needs to be more effective in providing for the need for housing, tourist accommodation and the protection of agricultural land.
Over tourism is having a damaging effect is some areas – Skye and the North Coast 500 are examples. We need better infrastructure to support the tourism boom: dual track roads, good ferry services, pot holes filled in, adequate toilet provision, fast broadband everywhere. And we need tourists and their dogs educated in responsible access.
We want to see the National Development Plan for Crofting published – and implemented. A crofting legislation reform bill needs to be brought forward early in the session and the Crofting Commission needs to be adequately resourced to bring unused crofts back into use. And it needs to be easier to create crofts, on private and public land.
The recent SCF workshop on access to crofts was so oversubscribed that a second session had to be run – also filled to capacity. The focus was on identifying the issues and then coming up with ideas on how to address them, how to unstick the current situation and get inactive crofts back into use.
The main issue identified by participants is that unused crofts are not being passed on, or are being sold as house sites for prices outwith the reach of young folk and locals. This has been going on for a long time.
This is supposed to be a regulated system of land tenure, but the regulator, the Crofting Commission, seems to be bogged down in a reactive role dealing with administrative procedures. The commission is making efforts to tackle absenteeism but is not even managing to scratch the surface on the issue of neglected crofts that are in breach of crofting law.
Crofting desperately needs a regulator that can be proactive. This will only happen if the commission has the resources to do its job properly. The situation is worsening and it is obvious that whatever strategy is being adopted is not working. There has to be a new approach.
- Patrick Krause is chief executive of the Scottish Crofting Federation.