Driving towards a great success?

EVERY great idea is worth hee-haw until someone actually drives the mechanics of it to make sure it become a ‘really great’ venture that makes a difference. In recent weeks, we’ve had two instances of some inspirational thinking that are in danger of going aft agley (we’re not out of the Burns season yet!) because red tape and a general lack of collaborative planning may turn them from being on a road to success, to heading the wrong way up a track, with pot holes at every turn.

First, it was the grand ambition of the Scottish Government to progress its renewables and forestry options on that great drive towards Net Zero. Inspirational in its objective, it’s been let down by a lack of glue that joined up thinking brings to any great big fat idea that takes it to a successful conclusion – ie, give it some pump priming cash, smooth the road ahead to make it easy and it will happen.

It would now appear that another laudable intention, to double the number of Scottish agri-tourism business from about 500 to 1000 by 2030 – and thus, potentially doubling its current turnover of £60m – is falling on some stony ground, occupied by the boulders and rocks of local and national bureaucracy that have the potential to take the steam out of rolling stock that should be chuntering along nicely (see page 3 and pages 12 and 13).

While planning approval for such ventures is almost a known formula that we all accept fluctuates from council to council, there must surely be an ability for central Government to realise its own great ambitions by producing some national guidelines for local authorities to push through applications for agri-tourism that benefit not just the applicant, but also the wider local community? Success often breeds success in this regard.

But the biggest driver of bureaucracy on the horizon that will stifle many new and even existing businesses, is a raft of legislation being planned around licensing of premises, a proposed ban on the advertising of alcohol and, dare we mention it again, the lack of a reliable ferry service which is choking a viable and vital tourism industry that bring a whole raft of downstream benefits with it to our islands.

While there may be some puritan support for a ban on alcohol advertising, we must never forget that the making of such is a national treasure (a ‘golden’ goose?) that employs many, gives joy to most and fills up the Treasury’s coffers with much needed ‘siller’. For instance, if every area had the GDP of Islay per head of population, we’d all think we were living in Monaco!

Many of these obstacles are all within the gift of Holyrood to change – indeed some of them are at its behest. So, let’s hope that common sense prevails and that great aspirations are not killed by deliberations, either intentionally or unintentionally, that make the road to success like a peat moss after two-inches of overnight rain.