‘Islanders will each be lavished with £¾m of public cash. It’s morally wrong’
Owner blasts £4m state buyout of island with six residents
THE owners of a Hebridean island yesterday claimed it was ‘morally wrong’ for the state to fund a £4 million community buyout for only six residents.
Jamie Howard’s family have owned Ulva for decades, but when he put it up for sale last year, locals used Scotland’s controversial land laws to demand the right to buy it.
Their plans were boosted last month when the publicly funded Scottish Land Fund pledged to provide up to £4.4 million.
However, the Howard family have launched a scathing attack on the buyout.
Although Mr Howard, whose plans to sell Ulva have been put on hold while the community buyout takes shape, has kept silent on the issue, his family spokesman yesterday blasted the multi-million-pound grant as a waste of public money.
In a hard-hitting statement, highlighting the needs of Scotland’s poverty-stricken communities, family spokesman Paul Nicol said: ‘The Scottish Government is giving this money for six people. If you look at the deprivation in Scotland, in places such as Easterhouse [in
‘Ulva residents are not deprived people’
Glasgow], it’s the worst in the UK. If you take that they are spending £750,000 per person for Ulva, it’s morally wrong.’
‘Ferguslie Park is an area [of Paisley] with about 3,000 people, and the life expectancy is worse than some African countries, but the Scottish Government is giving more than £4 million for just six people. Ulva residents are not deprived people.’
Mr Howard, whose family have owned Ulva for more than 70 years, decided to sell up after the death of his mother, Jean, in 2014.
The 4,500-acre (seven squaremile) island, off the west coast of Mull, is home to just four adults – including Mr Howard – and two young children.
It boasts a seven-bedroom main house, a church and ten other properties in need of renovation.
The row began in May last year when Mr Howard decided to put Ulva on the market.
The North West Mull Community Woodland Company, a community trust based on the neighbouring Isle of Mull, appealed to the Scottish Government to stop the sale, which it did.
In October last year, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that Ministers had given consent to the trust to register an interest.
Last month, the Scottish Land Fund announced a grant award of up to £4,415,200 to help the community fund the purchase of the island. Mr Nicol said: ‘Ulva is a business, at the end of the day – people think it is somebody’s private estate but we have had to take it off the market for months.’
Arguing that the delay in selling the island, which he said needed urgent investment, was not good for anyone, he said: ‘If we had sold Ulva to some rich individual, that person would have come in with the money immediately – and immediately that would have had an impact on the Mull economy, houses would be built.
‘But they [the community company] will have to apply for lottery funds.’ Mr Nicol added: ‘We estimate there must be £10 million of infrastructure costs to do what the community wish.’
Despite Mr Nicol’s assessment, the community company, which won the backing of residents in north-west Mull in a postal ballot, said the state aid would benefit far more than just the current small population of Ulva.
The company is confident it will be able to attract up to 50 people to live on the island, which once was home to 600 people.
John Addy, a director of the community bid company, said: ‘A whole bunch of people have expressed a whole lot of interest, wanting to set up businesses and wanting to live here.
‘People from all over the world, from Canada, Australia, UK, America, have expressed an interest.’
The island went on sale for offers over £4.25 million, with Mr Howard reportedly hoping to gain £5 million in a private sale.
Following the community bid, the Scottish Government ordered an independent valuation.
The community group, which is using the crowdfunding website JustGiving, said it was ‘pretty confident’ it would get the money to buy. Ulva resident Rebecca Munro, who lives there with her husband and two children, said: ‘We have had people phoning up with an interest in living here. Obviously they will need a way of supporting themselves, either working from home or at a trade on Mull.
‘A builder phoned up the other day, we have had interest from artists and there have been a couple of families who have said they would like to live here.’
North West Mull Community Woodland Company has until June 9 to reach terms with the Howards.
A Scottish Government official said: ‘We believe the proposals for Ulva have the potential to deliver a range of important benefits both for those living on the island itself and in the wider community.’