Harris residents to press ahead with buyout plan

Highland Correspondent

Friday 12 October 2012

The 500 residents on the last large privately owned estate on the island of Harris have voted overwhelmingly to press ahead with a community buyout.

Custom byline text:

David Ross Highland Correspondent

A feasibility study to purchase the 25,000-acre Bays of Harris Estate using right-to-buy provisions will now be carried out.

The estate covers much of the east coast of Harris from Tarbert to Northton at the south end of the island.

Although there are still smaller private estates in the area, if a community buyout succeeds it would mean the vast bulk of Harris is brought under community ownership.Alan Ross, clerk to the South Harris Community Council, said: "If the feasibility study was positive and there was continued support we would progress to a postal ballot. There is enthusiasm because they see the benefits the communities elsewhere on Harris have been enjoying since their buyouts."We have got to try to stabilise the population. When I used to came here to Finsbay to stay with my grandfather there would be 20 or 30 kids of school age. Today there are four in the whole village."Harris has suffered from chronic depopulation, more than other islands. In the four decades after the Second World War it lost more than 40% of its population, and the haemorrhage continued between 1981 and 2001, with a 24% decrease to 1984 residents. Between 2001 and 2009 there have been 329 deaths and 99 births.The Bays of Harris is owned by the Hitchcock family who bought it for a reported £5000 after the death of Lord Leverhulme, the English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician who founded Lever Brothers with his brother James, which later became part of Unilever. The Hitchcocks, who live in the south of England, have not commented about the buyout plan.

Contextual targeting label:

Block list

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Harris residents to press ahead with buyout plan

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED