Taxpayer foots bill for ‘peace talks’ as islanders squabble
Mediators called in after community buyout sours
A WORLD away from the rat race, the picturesque island of Gigha may seem like a stress-free haven.
But tensions have grown so much on the Hebridean idyll that its 170 residents have been forced to call professional mediators.
They were drafted in amid a series of bitter rows following a community buyout – which was bankrolled by the taxpayer.
Residents took ownership of the 3,200-acre island in 2002 and have been handed a total of £7.5 million of public money. But there have been widening splits within the population in the years since.
Arguments over how to deal with crippling levels of debt, the sale of properties into private hands and even what flags should be flown have caused bad blood.
At the urging of local Nationalist MSP Michael Russell, Gighans
‘We had to make some harsh decisions’
called in mediation experts at a cost of £1,400 – with the taxpayer footing the bill yet again.
Former NHS officials Robin and Lindsay Burley, who run a peacebroking business, Eskhill, from their home in Musselburgh, East Lothian, visited the island in June after a funding grant was secured from the Highlands and Islands Enterprise quango.
But after conducting face-to-face interviews with 19 residents, an open meeting attracted an audience of only 22 – and rancour apparently remains.
Disagreements include a row over the sale of two cottages for £275,000 to reduce Gigha’s debt to around £900,000 – which some residents feel is against the principles of community ownership. Andy Clements, housing and estates officer with the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust (IGHT), which owns the island, said: ‘We had to make harsh decisions.
‘Some people objected, but you’ve got to let go and move on. It’s the same as any family. If you’ve got debt in the background, it’s always going to cause friction and, after all, we are one big family.
‘The mediators spoke to people and had this wee session where you all sat round a table... a brainbusting thing. But they didn’t give us feedback and said it was all confidential. How can you solve problems if they won’t tell you what they are? What’s the point? You’d be as well having a public meeting to thrash it out.
‘They then wanted to go to a second round of mediation which would have cost more. A lot of people said we’d rather you spent the money on something else, it’s a waste.’
Another bone of contention has been the hoisting of both the Saltire and Union flags outside the IGHT offices in the port of Ardminish.
One resident said: ‘One person in particular has an issue with the Union flag. She’s pro-SNP and takes offence to it. Then other people said, “I take offence at the Saltire because Alex Salmond hijacked it and put a Yes on it”.’
Another resident said: ‘Why do we need to have any flags at all?’
The initial buyout cost £4 million – a million of which has been repaid – but further grants since total around £4.5 million.
VisitScotland has recently pledged £171,000 to help upgrade a campsite in Arminish.
Mr Burley said: ‘When we get involved in mediation, the discussions we have with people are confidential. We had some preliminary discussions but we’ve not been commissioned by the IGHT to engage in a full mediation.’
Mr Russell failed to respond to requests for a comment.