Next month the residents of Eigg will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their buyout of the island. By the most important measure it has been a success, with the population rising from 64 to 105, a near 65 per cent increase.
Reversing chronic depopulation remains the most pressing of missions in these parts. One who knew that better than most was the late Simon Fraser, the Stornoway solicitor who was the trusted navigator for most of the headline community buyouts from Assynt (1993) onwards.
On the day the community took control on Eigg in 1997 he said "It is a triumph for all that is good in humanity and certainly one in the eye for everything that is mean-spirited and self-seeking."
Simon will be sorely missed at Eigg's celebrations. He was proud of what the islanders achieved, and was quick to defend them against the numerous calumnies that came their way.
One of the most pernicious was that the public purse had footed the £1.5m purchase of Eigg. In fact only £17,500 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise was public money. There was even an internal debate whether it should be accepted.
Some right wing commentators have long appeared hopeful that a community buyout will collapse, with Eigg topping their wishlist. One argued it would have been cheaper for the taxpayer to have bought a Ferrari for everybody on the island. He had divided the £7.8m spent on a new slipway and a new CalMac car ferry (£5.5m), by the number of residents.
It was revealing the same equation was not applied to the slipways for the far smaller populations on: the privately owned Muck - £4.5m; the National Trust for Scotland’s Canna - £3.2m; or Scottish Natural Heritage’s Rum - £4.2m.
All four Small Isles benefitted from the investment by Europe, Edinburgh and the Highland Regional Council, in the ferry and jetties. But only Eigg was deemed undeserving.
The subsidy myth persisted, even when Eigg began to enjoy full employment. Grants did support developments such as its green power grid – a mix of hydro, wind turbines and a photovoltaic array – a new teashop and woodland projects. But these grants were open to all.
At the buyout in 1997 the newly appointed Scottish Office minister Brian Wilson said “Over the past 30 years, stewardship of this island has come to symbolize much that was wrong about the free market and land“ and went on to announce the establishment of the Community Land Unit to help others follow in Eigg’s footsteps.
Now more than 500,000 acres are under community ownership, home to 25,000. As it happens their representative body Community Land Scotland (CLS) has been meeting over in Skye and some delegates will cross to Eigg today.
CLS chairman David Cameron, from the North Harris, said yesterday he feared momentum was being lost on large land purchases, and looked for a breakthrough perhaps in the south of Scotland. They will see an example that works on Eigg.
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