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The Prologue
HIFAR - the Housing Initiative
for Arran Residents, is now a registered company, limited by guarantee and
a Scottish Charity.
We are committed to solving a very serious
problem of island life.
That problem is the provision of homes
for ordinary working folk - those who want to live and work on the Isle of
Arran, but in doing so (or wanting to do so) are handicapped by several
critical issues:
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The market price of
extant housing, when compared to the average mortgage capability of
island workers |
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The paucity of
available building land (and the resulting price of that land) |
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The regulations
restricting landowners' ability to provide building land |
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The regulations
restricting the type of building allowed |
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The priority given to
"Buy/build to let" over "Buy/build to live" |
A situation must be achieved whereby
ordinary working people can afford to buy/build/rent modern, efficient,
safe homes for themselves and their families, in a location that suits
them.
Is this unattainable in the 21st
century?
This website is intended as a focus for everyone interested in
contributing towards rectifying this critical issue, with a strong
emphasis on "contributing".
The sections "The People" and "The
Problem" will, we are sure, rapidly become well populated - everyone on
Arran has stories to relate on the subject - and are the reasons driving
the development of this site. Here are where "the real stories" will be
told.
The Questionnaire is intended to provide simple, un-opinionated demographic
statistics. All information gathered here will be used anonymously - we
urge everyone with housing issues to submit this form, whether or not your
story has been told elsewhere. The greater the response, the more relevant
the data.
As important as the depiction of the
perceived problems is, perhaps even more crucial is the content of the
section "The Possibilities".
What should be done? Who should do it? Who should decide how it is
done?
Here is the opportunity for those most affected to partake in an
effort to change the rules.
This is the crux of this Initiative. The
future prosperity and indeed community of Arran is in danger, in the short
term as much as in the long term.
This website is for you, the residents of
Arran (present and prospective). Under no circumstances will it be allowed to become
derogatory - destructive criticism, personal attacks and abusive or foul
language will find no audience here. Arran's official representatives and
other community groups perform their duties admirably given the strictures
imposed upon them and their contribution to this debate is both welcome
and necessary. We are not here to find fault with them or their efforts,
but to add weight to their arguments on our behalf. To this end all
correspondence intended for the Discussion Forum will be moderated for
unsuitable content.
Tell your story, supply
the facts and propose the solutions.
Please make your
contribution. We all know this matters.
As someone once said: "It's a beautiful
place, but you can't eat the scenery". |
