The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland - a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson
In response to the constant politicised complaints about the new Glen Sannox ferry size, the Ardrossan harbour neglect and pressure from some ‘islanders’, Scottish Labour and the media, reader JB offers this fascinating information about life on Arran:
JB – The North Ayrshire Profile on Arran
Key Findings
Arran’s unique natural beauty and accessibility continue to make it one of the most popular tourism destinations on the west coast of Scotland, with a distinctive island heritage dating as far back as 6th Century Scotland. As well as higher life expectancy, low unemployment and much lower rates of crime, the locality also offers good schools, active community groups, local festivals, Visitor Centres, a local distillery, and award winning produce. This quality of life was reflected in recent community workshops where residents selected ‘Support for Young People’ as the top priority above ‘Community Safety’ which was most popular in the mainland localities.
The resident population of approximately 4,500 has an older age profile, with just under a third aged 65 years and over, the highest proportion of all localities. The proportion of residents aged under 18yrs is the lowest of all localities at less than 15%, and for every ten workers there are over eight residents not economically active. Population projections indicate a significant fall in the working age population (18-64yrs) by almost half by the year 2026.
Residents aged 65yrs and over will make up one half of the island’s population by 2026.
A recent survey indicated a majority of Arran residents saying that their health was “Good” or
“Very Good”, while both males and females can expect to live to over 80 and 83 years respectively – amongst the highest averages in North Ayrshire. SIMD health rankings have remained stable since 2012, while smoking rates at 12% are lower than the North Ayrshire rate of 15%.
Since 2004, Arran’s datazones have fallen well outside of the top 15% most multiply deprived of all five Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation. While median household incomes do not reach the higher bandings within the North Coast locality, at over £31K they remain well above the North Ayrshire median of approximately £25K. The ACORN geodemographic dataset does identify rural poverty in postcodes where households are ‘financially stretched’. Nonetheless, of the 183 Arran postcodes, almost a third are categorised as ‘Affluent Achievers’ (56), 41% are categorised as ‘Comfortable Communities’ (76), and no postcodes fall in the lowest category of ‘Urban Disadvantage’.
This strong economic advantage is further reflected in Arran’s adult and youth unemployment rates, which have been consistently the lowest across all North Ayrshire neighbourhoods. The March 2017 unemployment rate for North Ayrshire was 4.1% for all adults compared with 1.0% for Arran, while the youth unemployment rate was 1.3% compared with 5.5% for North Ayrshire.
Property prices on Arran are more than double the North Ayrshire median price of £90K. keeping housing affordability as an ongoing issue in Arran. With the 2016 median house price of £195K more than six times the local median household income, access to affordable housing for young families and the working households presents a challenge.”
So…..better health longer life but making kids move away because they can’t afford to buy houses because of non islanders who can afford it moving in and probably doing much of their shopping on the mainland because of SNP Scottish Government subsidising their travel but complaining there are not enough ferries to the destination they want as they are ‘entitled’ incomers who know or should know the “risks” involved when deciding to retire to an island, unfortunately the older we get the more we need medical care from our, best performing NHS in their divided union!!!
JB
Source:
Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown Award) at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/shop/
The Oliver Brown Award for advancing the cause of Scotland’s self respect, previously awarded to Dr Philippa Whitford, Alex Salmond and Sean Connery: https://scotsindependent.scot/?page_id=116
About Oliver Brown, the first Scottish National Party candidate to save his deposit in a Parliamentary election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Brow
Talking-up Scotland 
And very likely a high proportion will vote against our independence.
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With a population of circa 4,500 I doubt that would be much of a problem though.
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Every little helps.
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I don’t think there’s a Tesco on Arran. 😉 It’s Co-Op territory I believe…
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😆😊
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An excellent article, most informative.
The problem of locals being outbid on housing by incomers is an all too common problem in Scotland, as is buying up properties to turn them into a high-rent business, or buying a holiday home. I’m not sure what can be done about it legally, but given the throttle on affordable housing and council housing being on it’s knees, some form of intervention has to be thought up – Changes to CT rules were a welcome start, but we have to do more.
I’m surprised by JB’s ” ‘entitled’ incomers ” observation, but accept he is more likely to reflect the consensus on the island – Yet this takes me back to the original observation on these ‘ferry stories’ in the media, it has been almost the exclusive views of business people not your average local using the ferry – It reeks of orchestration.
I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve heard the ‘chemotherapy’ story to demand what is impossible in the short term, or the drop on tourism being blamed on ‘ferrymageddon’ rather than anything to do with negative views of the UK, or the cost of living, high prices or anything else.
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Given their evident displeasure with the ‘poor ferry service’ , subsidised to the hilt , expect a nascent independence movement to arise on Arran , probably led by incomers , to rid them of this detestable SNP Government which clearly doesn’t value them enough .
With Independence the new Arran Assembly will be able to provide a ferry service more to the liking of the complainers , running 24 hours per day , 365 days a year regardless of the weather , with low low fares !
There will also be Milk and Honey free at the point of use for all !
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There are 10 ferry journeys a day. More in the summer for more visitors. Better than some bus services. The 5,000 islanders will not be wanting to sail every day.
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Spoilt for choice. People who need hospital treatment plan their journey. All over Scotland. If there is a need for overnight treatment. They get a bed or are put up in an hotel for specialist treatment, expenses paid.
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I don’t think attacking islands is a good look.
All the Scottish islands punch well above their weight in tourism income, and many have other income generators disproportionate to their size or population. Distilleries, oil & gas, fish production and renewable energy spring to mind.
Perhaps if all access to your village was closed between 6pm & 8am, and you were allowed to enter or leave only three times during the day (subject to weather) your attitude to ferries might be somewhat different. Especially when your access goes from four times a day to three.
Or should we be promoting ethnic cleansing of all the islands and forcing everybody to move to the mainland?
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