THE FUTURE of Scotland’s rural communities will be hit hardest by the fallout from Brexit and the need to establish a careful plan to protect them was at the heart of this year’s Scottish Rural Parliament in Stranraer. The three-day event held in Scotland’s south west region of Dumfries and Galloway, welcomed 400 delegates from all over Scotland, all of whom had a passionate interest in future policy direction within rural Scotland.

A range of local visits, workshops and panel discussions took place, covering many areas of rural life, hearing from organisations and individuals actively working to support development in these areas. Producing food for thought, the attendees then had the opportunity to share their views and suggestions for future policy direction and played an active role in influencing the Brexit policy statement which was presented at the close of the parliament.

Scottish Rural Action were the organisers behind the event, a charity that seeks to raise the voice of rural Scotland by empowering rural communities and enabling them to engage more effectively with government at all levels. Chair of the SRA, Amanda Burgauer, stressed the need to unleash the untapped potential of rural areas: “Stranraer has been a perfect host for the event as it has faced many of the challenges which are associated with living rurally and is an outstanding example of what rural communities can achieve.

"The recent Oyster Festival which was organised by the town and saw over 125 local businesses involved, brought in over £1million in to the local economy,” she noted. “If we can do that here in Stranraer, just think what can be achieved with ambition elsewhere. If we can allow our rural communities to flourish, then I can firmly say these communities are one of Scotland’s greatest assets."

The Scottish Rural Parliament is one of the main events in SRA’s calendar and occurs biannually with its first event held in Oban in 2014 and the previous parliament hosted two years ago in Brechin. This year’s event coincided with a busy week of Brexit announcements which saw Theresa May reveal her Brexit plan to the UK, bringing into clear focus the huge impact these proposals will have most critically in rural Scotland.

However, despite some negative Brexit predictions there was very much a positive case made for the future of rural Scotland and the take home messages from across the workshops and panel discussions was that Scotland’s rural communities are resilient and through the diligent work of multiple organisations – who were well represented throughout the event – it is clear that great collaborative work is being done to build a positive and sustainable future for rural Scotland.