Raasay deal runs counter to policy on giving autonomy to communities

AS one who can vouch for the excellence of Raasay venison and the reasonable price at which it is sold at the local shop, your report on the granting of shooting and fishing rights on the island to a group based in Girvan, Ayrshire, made depressing reading and appears to run counter to the Scottish Government’s alleged policy of, wherever appropriate, devolving autonomy to island and rural communities by, for example, supporting community buy-outs (“Crofters lose shooting rights to outsiders”, The Herald, February 21, and Letters, February 23 & 25).

The present scenario is all too reminiscent of the situation in the 1960s when the Scottish Office of the day allowed Dr Green to buy some of the main properties on Raasay for a pittance, with disastrous consequences for the people and the development of the island.

If the sum of £200,000 a year (the difference in the value of the respective bids for the lease) is so important to the Scottish Government, it would seem the lessons of recent history have not been learned.

The rights to an enterprise made successful by the Crofters’ Association have been awarded to the highest bidder, a commercial group, which has not, as far as I am aware, evinced any previous interest in the island or the wellbeing of its community.

The Government spokesman has, as is the wont of politicians, passed the buck to nameless civil servants. John MacLeod, 104 Gartmore Road, Paisley,