While we all feared this was coming, given the financial backdrop, we cannot stress enough the severity of the situation in NW Skye resulting from the lack of long term rental and affordable housing, our substandard school buildings and complete lack of recreational facilities. This is a result of years of non-investment, and it has really reached a crunch point. As I know Skye councillors are acutely aware, we have virtually no long term private rental market in NW Skye (like everywhere in Skye). As has been the case for many years, we have local people homeless, sitting on the housing list, waiting to be housed in Dunvegan, while we also have staff shortages in every sector. The Dunvegan Primary School building is literally falling apart, and now serving such a large catchment area for sgoil-airich and Primary age that the carpark alone is a tragedy waiting to happen. These dilapidated, neglected, damp and mouldy buildings do not reflect the tenacity of the school community and staff, nor do they reflect the investment we want to make in our children’s future, in the most meaningful way we can which is through education. If the NW Skye doesn’t have some serious investment soon there will barely be a population to make use of any community sports facilities! To think a couple months ago Highland councillors voted against keeping any enhanced benefits from wind developments in Skye in a local Skye & Raasay fund, in favour of a Highland Council wide pot- that suddenly seems even more relevant when schools close to Inverness are prioritised for capital funding. To run down an area through lack of investment, centralisation and lack of attention, and then fail to provide the absolute basics for the people still here – a school which is safe for our children to learn in and their teachers to teach in – should be a source of great shame to Highland Council and the Scottish Government.
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