IN THE NEWS

MICHAEL RUSSELL, Environment minister

GRIFF Rhys Jones makes a passionate plea for the restoration of Kinloch Castle on Rum (Opinion Focus, 21 June) – and I concur with his view that, while 51 years of state ownership of the island and its fantasy castle (most recently by Scottish Natural Heritage Heritage) have been vital for the island's outstanding natural habitat, too little has yet been done to secure an appropriate future both for the island's population and for its physical infrastructure.

Where we may differ is that the Scottish Government now regards the needs of the island's people as its first priority for action.

Last September, I visited the island to start on the process of normalising conditions for its inhabitants. Since last December, the Rum Task Force, chaired by The Scotsman columnist Lesley Riddoch, has been hard at work, and by this December, the community will have set a date for the handover of the village and the glen to their stewardship.

That will also involve the transfer of the housing stock, which will lead to security of tenure and the breaking of the damaging link that meant only those who worked for Scottish Natural Heritage could live in the place.

The first crofts on the island are about to be designated, which will most probably see some new blood taking up residence, and the island shop and post office are now operating as an independent, privately owned business.

Plans for other businesses, the exploitation of natural assets, such as the deer herd, and perhaps the sale of house plots are also moving ahead.

But – and this is the vital point – these projects are all being steered and determined by the island community itself. However, it is obvious to everyone involved in this process that to burden the emerging community with responsibility for Kinloch Castle would impede – and probably destroy – any prospect of progress.

Scottish Natural Heritage has itself admitted that it is ill-equipped to be the long-term custodian of Kinloch Castle, not least because it is neither funded nor suitably skilled to undertake the massive restoration required for a sandstone building which has had to withstand more than a century of Hebridean weather.

In fact, the new water supply for the island has already cost Scottish Natural Heritage (and that means, ultimately, the taxpayers of Scotland) more than £100,000 this year, and improvements to the electricity supply – which will only stave off for a few more years the need for a whole new island grid – are going to take up to another £100,000.

So, what has to happen is the transfer of the castle to an independent body, which can implement the exciting plans drawn up the Prince's Regeneration Trust, in full co-operation with the community.

Tight public finance in Scotland, following a poor Westminster spending settlement, has not diminished the will within the Scottish Government to collaborate on the urgent restoration of the castle in whatever way is possible, though it has inevitably diminished the available means.

Consequently, the day before Griff Rhys Jones' polemic appeared in The Scotsman, I had agreed to a new round of discussions with the Prince's Trust to seek a way forward that bore all these points in mind.

If Mr Rhys Jones wants to be part of this process – to put his effort where his pen is, so to speak – he would be very welcome.

Perhaps together we can find the ideal solution for both building and people on what is, and will always be, a remarkable and unique gem in that scatter of magical islands off our west coast.

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