HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE DEPOPULATION?
Our ageing population was a problem in 2009 and is still a problem now. It's the 'Maria' of island conundrums - how do you solve a problem like it?
I was sat in the audience when Jeremy Corbyn was asked, by a young Stornoway man, what the solution was to our island's serious problem of depopulation. Jeremy had already mentioned the issue in his speech, so I suppose it was only fair to call him out on what he would do about it, if given the opportunity. Simply put, the visiting celebrity Labour leader didn't know.
When Jeremy's colleague Rhoda Grant MSP attempted to answer the ongoing question with the same old, tired proposals - 'we need better broadband', for example - my entire body sighed. Though, when Jeremy re-directed the question back to the young man, 'what do you want to see happen?' I sat back up. It was a good question, and it was finally directed at the right people.
On one side, our islands offer a wonderful quality of life. Its beauty is spell binding and our sense of community leaves most people falling head over heels for this place. Yet, on repeat, we hear all about the lack of affordable housing worry, the somewhat unreliable transport matter and the apparent absence of decent jobs. Oh, and of course the major "I don't get 3G" concern.
Being a 24 year old who lives on the Isle of Lewis (I know, imagine!) you might care a little about my thoughts on living here. If not, I suggest you discard the rest of this post and scroll through your Facebook newsfeed instead.
1. More affordable housing
I can't speak for those looking to buy or rent a home in the Outer Hebrides, I won't even try. I'm a typical example of a 'self-builder' having to wait patiently, and jump over the agonising hurdles of building a home.
We (my husband and I) started the process a year and a half ago... there's still nothing to our name and as of yet, the site still hasn't been de-crofted and I don't see us being in our own home any time soon.
So why, in a place where they're calling out for young people to stay and raise a family, is getting started with a new house so overly complicated? I mean, we tick all of the below:
- We both grew up here
- We want to start a family and raise our children here
- We both work full time on the island and have no plans to leave
- We both contribute a great deal of our time to the community
- We don't want to take up a valued social housing space
We've already been told, even at this early stage, that it will be very difficult to get a mortgage. Not because of affordability, which (according to an independent mortgage advisor) is absolutely fine, but because we are building on family land. Yep. Halifax won't even consider lending you a penny if the land has been gifted to you by a family member or even a friend. Many other self-build mortgages won't consider us either, because Kevin wants to carry out the work himself.
So, here we have a hard working couple who are keen to settle down on the island with all of the means to do so. Surely it would be advantageous to the local authority to create some sort of support system for others in the same situation? I don't just mean financial support, although it would be great if we could secure a mortgage with a little more ease, but I mean having an appointed officer/system/scheme we can turn to who can guide us through this mountain of a process. This means of encouragement could allow us to start the beginning of our lives together sooner rather than later- you know, exactly what our councillors are crying out for our young people to do.
2. Better transport
So, do you want to talk about our brand new beautiful Calmac ferry? Or the RET on our ferry routes which are having a positive effect in trying to reverse our depopulation issue? Nah, I think that says it all really.
Or how about the new Flybe v Loganair babble? Nah, heard it all too many times before. We're getting cheaper flights and it's great.
In that case, let's move on.
3. Career aspirations
"Don't confuse having a career with having a life." - Hilary Clinton
I am one of the lucky ones, though. I love my job, I love the people I work with and I get to live in the Outer Hebrides. I get it, if you can't get a job here then it's a real difficulty.
My sister moved home with two degrees and a teaching qualification... to work as a waitress, at first. A good teaching post in Ipswich didn't equate to the quality of life on offer here on the Isle of Lewis.
Let's not forget that we do have health care for tens of thousands of people, as well as an education system and the local authority. On top of that, we've got some hugely successful businesses in the private sector, like Harris Tweed. So it's not as though your only working options are crofting or knitting. I've met countless people who have moved here, having given up their high flying careers in a city. They've come to realise that there's more to life, and clearly it can be found in our little part of the world.
So why are we not further promoting ourselves as a wonderfully distinctive place to live, proudly showing the rest of the world how good life can be and how well we do it?
Why would we want to be like another city? I guarantee we would not be good at it. We're good at being islanders.
Let's allow our young people to be proud of our islands again. Let's see all school leavers graduate secondary school, go to the mainland to study and actually want to come back to the island because they can't imagine a better life elsewhere. Let's see an end to national newspapers ridiculing our blessed way of life. Let's stop calling it 'the rock'. Let's see more of the Alan Cumming type personalities experiencing the wonders of the Outer Hebrides on STV, in a beautiful and enlightening way. Let's celebrate our island 'quirks'; the quiet Sundays, people knowing your business and never locking your front door.
Let's start with that.
