From early March, the RLUP team are embarking on their LAND+ People Project: an exciting new chapter in the development of this pilot work.
LAND+ People will explore what the land means to people; how the land might change; what natural capital is and how we can make the most of the opportunities it could bring, and how we can work together to create a viable, thriving future for our communities.
Initially, because the area is so vast, we will work in one of the seven Community Council areas within the NorthWest2045 area: Kinlochbervie.
In time, we plan to take what we learn from this experience and work in other communities across the wider NW2045 area.
Kinlochbervie has been chosen as the first ‘micro-pilot project’ because it was one of the Highland Council's
Sutherland 'Community Planning Locality areas', and our work will build on this ‘place-based’ way of working.
We will make the most of the connections we already have within the Kinlochbervie area, including community organisations, crofters, an environmental NGO landowner, a private landowner and private sector representatives.
The Kinlochbervie-focused work is co-led by three people from Kinlochbervie: Sophie Clark, Sara Harkins and Denise Macdonald. They bring their community-based knowledge
and experience as well as professional expertise, including land-based working, land-based education and Crofting.
The team will make contact with members of the Kinlochbervie community – in particular people who work on the land, and representatives of the wider community – to discuss issues of land, land use change, how more people might get involved in decisions about the future, and how the RLUP can help make that happen.
We will hold a workshop in Kinlochbervie on 30th March to bring people together, to discuss and share what we have learnt so far, and to explore more about Natural Capital and what opportunities there might be for our area, and how we want to proceed.
If you would like to discuss this element of the project, please contact Sara Harkins: kinlochbervie.estate@outlook.com.
For general RLUP enquiries, please contact Lizzie.W.Williams@NorthWest2045.scot