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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Debates

Published: 03 April 2015

I first came to the Highlands as an 8 year-old boy on holiday and even then I knew that this was where I wanted to live. My wife Jackie and I moved with our kids to the Highlands many years ago. We uprooted our business and moved that here as well. This region is one of the most beautiful places in the world and we love living here.
 
It’s pleasing to say that I fulfilled that boyhood ambition when I moved here many years ago with my wife Jackie and our kids, uprooting our business and replanting it here, in the Highlands.

Serving my ward, Aird and Loch Ness, which is in this constituency, along with my work on the Cairngorms National Park Authority, has ensured I am constantly reminded of what is exceptional about where we work and live.

Most days I get to walk to work as the Leader of the Highland Council, crossing the bridge over the lovely River Ness on the way. My kids can walk to school, even when it’s raining. My ward of Aird and Loch Ness, which is the equivalent size of Luxembourg, has many wonderful sights to see as I crisscross it, visiting constituents and communities.
 
The reason I’m telling you all of this because the environment is very important to me. I think it is to everyone living in the Highlands. In my experience, most of us feel lucky to be living here. So the local environment and our wider responsibilities for the planet must be seen as a priority for us all.
 
I am grateful to be invited to the hustings organised by the Badenoch & Strathspey Conservation Group and thank them for this opportunity to focus on the environment. I like the view that we have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them in the same proportion. So I will be pleased to talk about my campaign policies, the Scottish Government’s progress on the environment, and my own initiatives, but I will be listening at the hustings and hoping to hear from the people how we can do more at all levels of government.
 
Of course, I will also be keen to discuss the Scottish Environment LINK’s Manifesto for the Westminster General Election.
 
It is important to say though, that I certainly believe politicians can and must do more on the environment. My Carbon Clever programme for example, which I initiated at Highland Council, focuses on the economy, energy, land use and resources, transport and engagement strategy. It is a growing success and proof that even in these tough times of austerity progressive policies can be delivered.

Follow @Carbon_CLEVER on Twitter for more information. In the meantime I look forward to meeting with all those who will be at the hustings and discussing such a vital campaign issue.
 
Drew Hendry
SNP
@drewhendrySNP
www.facebook.com/DrewHendrySNP2015
That’s why I initiated Carbon Clever

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Written by Roy Turnbull

Category: Debates

Published: 01 April 2015

Mature Scots pine burnt during grouse moor management, Dorback, Cairngorms National Park. Note also eroding soil and burnt ground vegetation.

Dear Sir,

You report (24 September) the pledge from the UN New York summit on climate change to stop natural forest destruction and restore hundreds of millions of acres of degraded land by 2030, in order to help sequestrate carbon in woodlands.

What will Scotland's response be to this welcome news?

In much of the world, such destruction and degradation of forests is caused by the desperately poor, seeking fuelwood or land to grow food.

In Scotland, it is caused by what might be called the desperately rich: burning land for grouse shooting, overgrazing it with red deer for deer stalking or, as in the Cairngorms National Park, building housing estates, often for holiday or second homes, in native woodlands. Scotland's uplands with respect to carbon sequestration (not to mention biodiversity, landscape or social justice) are a wasteland compared with what they could be.

Let us hope that this summit finally opens the eyes of the Scottish Government to the deplorable state of much of Scotland's land, in thrall as it is to sport shooting or speculative development interests.

How many of those hundreds of millions of acres of degraded land will be restored in Scotland? When will we stop destroying native woodlands for housing? What will be the Scottish Government's response to the New York Declaration on Forests?

Roy Turnbull
Nethy Bridge

The Scotsman 25 September 2014.

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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Debates

Published: 01 April 2015

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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Debates

Published: 01 April 2015

Mike Robb is the Scottish Labour Party Candidate for this Constituency.

He has a degree in Physics from Edinburgh University and has worked in the software and electronics industry for most of his professional career. Mike runs his own UK-wide IT Consultancy Business from Inverness. Mike lives in Muir of Ord, with his wife Gwen who is a nurse. They have two grown up sons. His priorities are jobs for young people, getting more houses built, protecting the NHS and building an economy that's works for us all, not just bankers.

Our environment is a precious thing. For all of us wherever we live but especially here in the Highlands. Protecting that environment against factors local, national and global is vital.

We all have a role to play in that, whether as environmental activists, single issue campaigners, community groups or politicians, elected or aspiring!

I believe that climate change is happening and that we need to intervene at many levels to avoid its worst effects. In responding, we need to be led by science and not by vested interests or dogma.

On energy, we need policies that are science based and that provide safe, secure and reliable sources. Energy needs to be affordable and reliable as well as renewable.

We need to do much more to tackle the use of energy in terms of how we use it as much as how we produce it. Home insulation projects, innovative area heating schemes and getting people out of cars and onto energy efficient public transport are key.

Wind farms have a place in the mix. But I am steadily coming to the conclusion that the scale and pace of industrial wind farm developments is much more about the benefits to landowners and international energy companies than it is to the environment or to local communities and consumers. Like so many things in our society, the benefits are for the few whilst the costs are picked up by many ordinary families.

Fuel poverty is a real issue in the Highlands. We need sources of energy which don’t damage the planet but which allow the most vulnerable in our communities to heat their homes without fear.

On transport, we need a better balance to cut fuel-based emissions. The use of a car will never be any more than an essential in most parts of the Highlands, but there is so much we can do to ensure there are environmentally positive alternatives in as many places as possible. Train and bus timetables that join up; frequent, affordable rural bus services that recognise the value of providing an alternative to cars. The private sector may not be ready to provide this and we should be ready to look at public ownership again. We need to dual the A9, but we also need to invest in the rail link to Inverness to make it an attractive alternative to driving cars and lorries up and down the A9. And as a cyclist, I’d like us to invest in making it “safe and easy” to cycle to work in as many places as possible.

Sustainable farming, fracking, green procurement, getting the balance right in the Cairngorms between environment and tourism are all topical issues which I look forward to debating

Mike Robb
March 2015

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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Debates

Published: 30 March 2015

We have asked our candidates for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey for statements on the environment prior to our Environmental Hustings on Friday 3rd April 7pm in Aviemore. This is the first reply, which is from Edward Mountain, Scottish Conservative:

"As a farmer and rural surveyor I have a very keen interest in how we use our environment. Prior to the meeting I would like to highlight just two local issuses:

Water:
The Spey is a hugely important asset that all those within the Strath rely on. It not only provides our household needs but it also provides water for the distilleries and agriculture and it is also a recreational resource. We should also not ignore the fact it is home to many iconic species including salmon, pearl water mussels, otters, kingfishers to name but a few. However the management of this river is conducted in a piecemeal way, by at least three different agencies, that has resulted in the habitats and water quality and quantity being diminished.

Energy:
Our green energy policy in Scotland is deeply flawed. Sadly political posturing has resulted in a policy that often benefits the few but burdens the majority. Basing a policy that relies on wind factories is also deeply hypocritical and damages our landscape. We must review the policy to ensure safety of supply and a balance of provision.

I believe there are many other issues and look forward to discussing these on 3rd April. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Best wishes

Edward Mountain"

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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Campaigns

Published: 15 September 2014

The Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group (BSCG) has released a report by the James Hutton Institute, released under a freedom of information act request, that suggests there has been a 50% decline in Freshwater pearl mussels in the River Spey over the last 15 years.

The report says scientists had identified pollutants, such as high levels of phosphorus from detergents, fertilisers and human waste, as being the cause of the harm, with the worse affected area being in the vicinity of Aviemore.

BSCG are concerned that the proposed building of thousands more homes in the Cairngorms will put the rare species at greater risk.

Dr Gus Jones Convener of the Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group (BSCG) said: "It looks alarmingly as if the Spey’s pearl mussels are in free fall. If pearl mussels are to have a future in the Spey it is vital that current pollution standards are improved immediately. We hope this timely report will be a wake up call that radical action is urgently needed if Scotland is to save the Spey’s pearl mussels. The report reveals that pollution levels are already exceeding safe limits and yet thousands more houses are planned in Strathspey, further impacting on water quality."

Roy Turnbull (Vice convener) of Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group added: "The pearl mussel decline follows the building of about three thousand houses in Strathspey in the last thirty years. Yet the national park plans to allow thousands more houses, which would increase the pollution of the Spey."