SAC Rural Policy Centre

We drove the half-mile down to the pier, parked, and walked up to the Isle of Gigha Hotel (owned and run by the community), where we met five members of the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust Board. Iain took their photograph in the sun, and then walked to the 5 or 6 locations suggested by Board members as good places to see the work of the Trust.

We went upstairs in a building next to the Hotel, into a tiny room that used to be a massage parlour; sadly, no masseurs there today! We began our discussions about how things had evolved since just before the community buyout in 2002, up to May 2011. Gigha is seven miles long and a mile and a half wide (see fuzzy photo of Isle of Gigha sign). Prior to purchase, the population of 96 people was in decline, and there had been four landlords in the previous 10 to 12 years. The local population were increasingly concerned that they didn’t know when the island would next be sold and what the next landlord would be like. So when the possibility for community purchase came up, and when this coincided with the Scottish Land Fund being available, the community – with some hesitation stepping into the unknown – decided to go for purchase.

Since 2002, the Trust established the UK’s first community-owned wind farm, connected to the grid, and this generates the core revenue stream allowing for other investments. This revenue, coupled with grants, have been invested largely in housing: improvements to the nine existing Trust-owned properties, many of which were below tolerable living standard; and building of 18 new affordable rented houses (in partnership with Fyne Homes). Many people with connections to the island have moved into these properties, as well as adults who had previously been living with their parents due to lack of housing on the island. They have also seen the establishment of around 10 private businesses. As a result, Gigha’s population has gone from 96 and falling, to 156 and rising (there’s a baby on the way), and an increase in the number of children at the island primary school. Plus through Trust lobbying, and working in partnership with CalMac Ferries, an early ferry was also put on in the mornings which allows older children to attend secondary school on the nearby mainland – something which was critical to families remaining on Gigha. Alongside the Trust, they have established a commercial enterprise which allows for trading of products and services (such as accommodation, and merchandise etc).

The Trust believes that their ongoing focus on housing will underpin further growth – in businesses locating here, and in families coming or returning to Gigha. They aspire to a mix-aged population, because people of different ages have so much to offer to the ongoing life of the island. And ownership of the land is seen as central to all of this, because it allows the community to see and plan for greater potential, and for the land to become something different – for housing, for the wind turbines, for reorganising tenancies etc. The Trust believes that land ownership provides the foundation for new things to happen, and for a sustainable community to be established on the island; they know it’s a long-term process – at least one lifetime or one generation. And the experience and expertise they have gained in the past 9 years of ownership and management will, they feel, stand them in good stead for that ongoing, long-term journey.

Still in sunshine, we said our goodbyes, and headed to the ferry. This time we were first in the queue rather than risking a last-minute boarding, and drove on to the wee roll-on-roll-off (RO-RO) ferry; I was relieved it was a RO-RO because my recurring dread on this trip had been the thought of having to reverse Big Bertha onto a tiny ferry! Twenty minutes later we were driving back onto the mainland (see photo) – our final ferry trip now completed.

The next 4.5 hours were mixed, with some of the roads being extremely narrow, plus fast Bank Holiday weekend traffic of coaches, other motorhomes and caravans coming in the opposite direction. Sometimes it was a case of gripping the steering wheel and hoping that the space you’d judged was in fact wide enough for all. Other times I just stopped, letting the (hopefully) more experienced coach-drivers navigate their way through. We stopped at a secluded parking space for our final lunch-on-the-go, then headed back to Huntingtower, Perth, to drop off Big Bertha to Corinne at the hub of Scottish Tourer motorhomes. There’s a photo of me handing the keys back to Corinne – I’m sure she and I were both relieved that the van, me and Iain were all in one piece (not that we ever really doubted it!).

Unpacked everything from the van into the car, and drove off – strange how tiny the car felt for those first few miles, and very odd not having a fully-fledged kitchen and loo behind in the back. Reached home in the Scottish Borders in time for a wee glass of something, and the realisation that the trip had happened almost without a hitch…