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COURIER OPINION: Aberfeldy trust’s radical housing plan is vital for its community

Aberfeldy residents are being priced out of the market by the town's booming tourism industry. Picture: DCT Media.
Aberfeldy residents are being priced out of the market by the town's booming tourism industry. Picture: DCT Media.

Highland Perthshire certainly is a glorious place.

It is no wonder that tourists want to visit, and those lucky enough to be able to afford a second home seek out a perfect rural idyll in its spectacularly beautiful surrounds.

But there is a flip side to becoming such a sought-after location.

And the brunt of it is borne by local families who have called the region home for generations but are now finding themselves priced further and further out of the property market.

What that means in practicality is an exodus of local people from the communities they – and generations of their forebears – have shaped.

It is not a phenomenon peculiar to Perthshire in Courier Country, with concerns about the affordability of housing in the East Neuk regularly aired.

Now a group of locals in Aberfeldy have determined to do something about it.

PKC Cllr Mike Williamson, Joe Gribben from Communities Housing Trust and interim directors of Aberfeldy Development Trust, Sally Murray, Mary McDougall, Adam Hobson, Gill Steele and Carol Laing. ADT member not pictured: Graham Forsyth.

The town’s development trust is forming plans to build new, affordable housing, specifically for local families struggling to get on the ladder. It is a radical step.

But, in a world that is so ill-divided, it is one that may be necessary in order to maintain the integrity of so many communities.

No place can hope to stand still forever, but looking out for its own is a noble idea. We look forward to seeing the plans progress.

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