As the old saw goes, truth will out.
Professor Colin Davidson, Chair of Craignish Community Council, has made a final comment – as a private individual - on the planning application for an affordable housing-led development on which we have previously reported, for The Glebe, in Ardfern village on the Craignish peninsula.
This was lodged before the date for the submission of comments closed.
The full text of Professor Davidson’s last comment [No 2037582] is:
‘I wish to add one final point to my earlier contribution, though strictly it does not relate to a planning matter.
‘Whilst it is accepted that there is a need for affordable housing in Craignish, there is no local letting initiative in place for this proposed development; indeed, as you will know, it is difficult under present legislation to define a ‘watertight’ initiative to ensure that any houses built go to local people.
‘It is therefore quite possible that this development will not yield the result that many of the supporters wish to see, but will merely bring more people on low incomes into the area.’ [Ed: the emphasis is ours.]
This last sentence is quite astonishingly naked in its revelation of the real cause for opposition to this proposal.
The problem is not genuinely anything to do with the nature of the modest final plan proposed. It is a wish to create a monolithic community of the monied middle class, specifically excluding those ‘on low incomes’ as the ultimate social shibboleth in this part of the world.
Professor Davidson may make these comments as a private individual, because he cannot properly make them in his capacity as Chair of the Community Council. Nevertheless, he was elected locally to this position, is therefore personally influential and is also powerful in his continuing Chairmanship, beyond the formal confines of this issue.
With regard to the carrier point he is making, of course it is necessary to work within the national guidelines, but local people in Craignish trust the Council to solve local housing problems through this scheme – and that is also what the grant funding that has made it possible was given to do.