Photo: Colin Mearns/Newsquest. Retrieved from heraldscotland.com
A plan to help reverse the “population emergency” in the Highlands and Islands will be outlined today by the Scottish Government.
It will include targeted funding for areas experiencing the worst decline and “empowering local leaders” to make more decisions for the benefit of their own communities.
Areas of the Highlands highlighted as ‘at risk’ of decline include Caithness, Sutherland and West Lochaber.
Migration Minister Emma Roddick insisted that rural depopulation was a priority for the government, amid criticism it is too focused on the Central Belt, which led to the resignation of one of its own councillors.
Councillor Karl Rosie, who respresents the Thurso and Northwest Caithness ward, said he was “deeply troubled” by his party’s policies, which he said were “neglecting the needs and priorities of regions like ours in the Highlands.”