YOUR VIEWS: Ardgay and district community deserves to be heard Hanging Gardens of Babylon at castle
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A number of residents in the Ardgay & District area have shared their views about certain local issues in the absence of a community council.
In the last months, Samantha Kane’s media interactions have caused our area to receive considerable negative attention from the press and we feel the community deserves to be heard.
We appreciate the diversity of our communities. Ms Kane’s falling out with the local community has nothing to do with her country of origin or with gender issues.
Since her arrival in the community Samantha Kane has antagonised residents in many ways and some have felt very intimidated by her actions.
Her behaviour in the street following the Ardgay & District Community Council EGM in November to ascertain community views on the sale of land around Carbisdale was shocking and unacceptable.
We are dissatisfied with the absence of a resolution to the complaints sent to Highland Council following this behaviour.
We believe she does not represent Ardgay, Culrain & District’s interests and she should not be allowed to act as a community councillor.
Also, a full explanation is needed from Forestry & Land Scotland to help us better understand how it approved the sale of public land without evidence of local community support and with a meeting of some 40-50 people opposing such a sale.
It is a matter of record that the local community has been consistently against the sale of public land around Carbisdale Castle since 2015.
Andy and Betty Wright
Ardgay
I NEARLY choked on my toast when I read that Samantha Kane aspired to “enhance” the beauty of the Scottish Highlands by building a replica of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon right here in Culrain. It will come as sad news to the squirrels, pine marten, deer and the huge variety of birds which currently call the area of woodland their home. The very inaccessibility of the steeply sloping area of ground makes it a safe habitat for these creatures.
But then it dawned on me that it was probably not coincidental that this announcement was made within days of SSEN publishing its “narrowed down” route option for the Spittal to Beauly Overhead Line Project. Ms Kane had previously (in May last year) told SSEN that she was “in the process” of landscaping and creating a formal garden, as she was aware that more weight was afforded to garden landscapes when planning OHL routes.
She drew a comparison with Dunrobin and Ardross castles. Unfortunately, Ms Kane’s plans were hampered somewhat by the fact she did not have the land for a formal garden at the time, despite some strategic strimming and fencing.
This got me to thinking that those of us affected by SSEN’s routes should now hatch plans to build elaborate, expensive and grandiose schemes to ensure that we can push SSEN to the places where ordinary folk live in modest houses. I might make a start with some CGI drawings of my theme park idea (I think Thorpe Park with a Highland twist) – that should work.
With that thought, my breakfast concluded on an even more positive note when I read that Ms Kane had “last visited the ruins of the hanging gardens of Babylon 50 years ago”. This must come as welcome news to the classical scholars, who after years of research and debate were really no closer to knowing for sure where the gardens had been nor indeed whether they had ever been more than a myth. I do hope Ms Kane will get in touch with them to share her information.
R Sciurus
Ardgay
