Consultants propose new village for Barra
A “model village” could be created on Barra both to address housing needs and also forestall climate change impacts, a “brainstorming” report by environmental consultants has suggested.
The report states that a new village could “enable opening up the interior of the island for housing and provide a plan for moving away from the coastal living that will be affected by rising sea levels”.
Dr Cait Murray-Green of Strategic Scientific Consulting, who wrote the “Barra Business Review”, said it had not been formally commissioned but arose out of discussions with the Community Council on Barra. She said it had been a pleasure speaking to so many businesses on the island with entrepreneurial ideas.
The report warned: “With the changes in climate effecting weather patterns and sea levels Barra could be more frequently hit by storms and severe weather events. This could provide conditions for flooding, and for drought”. A significant amount of land and much of the housing stock could be lost within three generations.
On fuel poverty, the report called for flexibility in the Warmer Homes scheme to allow more appropriate local solutions. The Scottish Government scheme, it says, has “a single format solution, providing interior insultation”.
The report states: “Barra and Vatersay, like many rural areas, has a significant amount of old housing stock, which is inefficiently insulated, resulting in a need for greater use of fuel to achieve healthy living conditions especially in the winter.” However, insulation alone had not proved to be an appropriate solution for older properties and others should be trialled.
On renewable energy, the report states: “The Community Council have a future plan to create a mini-grid capable of supplying the energy needs of the island. Currently there is a single wind turbine with average annual production (which) represents 53 per cent of the combined annual electrical demand … on the islands. The community company sells electricity from the turbine at c.15p kWhr and gains approximately £100k annual revenue from electricity sales.
“An additional turbine or turbine(s) could provide additional power, but excess power can create issues so this would need to be considered alongside the potential for using the excess power generated through storage or additional activities”.
On tourism, the report reflects concerns that “so far, the evidence is that 2024 season will not be as busy as previous years. There are concerns that occupancy will not reach even 80 per cent capacity. There are fewer visitors and those that arrive are more frugal with their money, spending less in shops and restaurants.
“The major issue reported for low visitor numbers is the unreliability of the Calmac ferry especially to Oban. This is a real issue, but it has also been amplified by negative press attitude and resulted in visitors selecting alternative destinations”.
Strategic Scientific Consulting, who are based in Giffnock and have close links with Finland “were invited to spend time with entrepreneurs and businesses on Barra to provide brainstorming strategy support, guidance on funding and strategy for expanding income generation”.