Navigating Land Use Changes from a Small Business Perspective
When I came to live in the beautiful Glenkens, six years ago, I was quite unprepared for the speed and scale of local land use change, and the affect this would have on my ability to set up in business.
Despite being self-employed for 40 years I had never before felt the need to inspect planning applications, let alone participate in a public planning inquiry.
My dive into the public planning system was a fascinating journey, albeit a time consuming one. Setting up a new business requires a great deal of planning but it is unusual for a micro land based start-up to also have to become a registered lobbyist.
The sheer scale of land use change in the Upper Glenkens is extremely challenging, compounded by the tag-along politics. We chose our property for its potential to contribute to the local community as a rural economic hub; as a place that has the capacity to accommodate many types of enterprise. With a peaceful natural beauty, proximity to the Southern Upland Way and availability of additional rental grazing for our 30 Highland cows, the business model was very clear.
Within days of moving in it became apparent that all was not well, and that massive land use changes had been wreaking havoc on the community for decades. Pasture for grazing was in short supply, usurped by forestry operations. To make matters worse the plantations had become havens for all manner of agricultural predator.
Within two months we discovered all the local beauty spots and great trails were to be filled with wind turbines and within 18 months we were told that our additional grazing ground was to be sold for plantation. Our original business model was crushed.
Six years on, we are now working on our seventh land based business model, and one which will hopefully be immune to what is going on around us. Each of our previous business ventures had been viable but each relied heavily on honest political exchange to mitigate the effects of very dominant government policy. Net zero, carbon credits, Brexit, Covid 19 and the sequestration of the public road network to serve the sole needs of government partners have been the reasons for the collapse of viable business models.
The demise of the Upper Glenkens' economic vitality is not for the want of effort from those who live there. This area has more potential to grow as a strong remote rural economy than anywhere else in Scotland. The decline is a measure of the government’s obsession with big politics, global agendas and handouts to economic elites.
Gardeners who set aside areas for large ornamental bushes are not concerned with the natural and organic regeneration of micro species. Rather they enjoy the fact that the stronger plants act as a kind of weedkiller.
Once the government has done its thing and planted its garden, I sincerely hope there will be a little space left for us.
Fiona Clubb, Carsphairn