THEY are part of an idyllic archipelago off the west coast which is home to some of the most stunning scenery to be found anywhere in the land. But now Scotland’s beleaguered island communities are demanding urgent action to save their livelihoods as they suffer chronic de-population. 

News of a Scottish Government consultation in preparation for a National Islands Plan has been met with derision.

Islands Minister Paul Wheelhouse said the Islands Bill passed last year had been a milestone for these remote communities, which would now be asked to share their opinions on the challenges they face.

However, islanders on Coll, Colonsay and Tiree, who face losing their crucial air link with Oban next month, say they are sick of telling the Government and their local councils what their problems are and want less talk and more action.

As Mr Wheelhouse was preparing his islands team to visit Scotland’s remote outposts, Tiree Community Council was halfway through its own alternative plan to set up a Confederation of Islands. 

Tiree community councillor Ian Gillies said responses were flooding in as the confederation plan – aimed at giving “ignored” communities in Argyll, which has 23 inhabited islands, a stronger political voice – gains support.

Mr Gillies said: “We’re fed up being ignored and people not responding to us. They talk, but they don’t do anything. You write to ministers and it might be a month, or two months, before you get a reply.”

Recalling a speech made by Mr Wheelhouse in February, Mr Gillies said the minister had pointed out a three-strong islands team to his audience.

Mr Gillies said: “I didn’t even know there was an islands team, so I went up to one of them after the speech and asked for the woman’s business card, as I wanted to get in touch. She said she didn’t have a card, so I gave her mine and she said she would email me. That was on February 28 – and she still hasn’t been in touch.”

Alex Howard, a spokesman for Colonsay Community Council, said it had written to ministers and MSPs about fears for the future of the council-run air service to Oban after its last meeting, but had not received one reply.

When Colonsay suffered a 48-hour power failure, after the lights went off at 3am on April 3, all back-up systems failed.

Mr Howard said: “It took 48 hours to get an emergency generator to Colonsay. Essentially, this island was cut off from the world. You would have thought that CalMac would have sent out another boat, but they didn’t. 

“We’ve been told the undersea cable is faulty, but we’ve been asking them to upgrade it for years. Everything to do with the state provision to these islands is failing. 

“It’s all very well to say ‘we’re going to do a consultation’ – we could tell them what to do, but consultation is their way of saying, ‘We’re going to ask a lot of questions, spend thousands on a consultation and then do nothing’. We know what the problems are and we have been telling the ministers.”

On Coll, the population has plummeted from 240 to around 160 in two years and the school roll has dwindled from 56 to six as the difficulties of living there, with a short tourist season and lack of full-time employment, forces families to move away.

Now Coll’s air link is under threat as Argyll and Bute Council has put the contract out to tender, as it struggles to find an operator to deliver the service within its reduced budget.

Paula Smalley, convener of Coll Community Council, fears if the air service goes, it will be the last straw, as it is needed for attending medical appointments on the mainland, for NHS services to visit the island, and as a route to and from Coll when the ferries are off.

Ms Smalley said: “If the National Islands Plan works we welcome it, but we welcomed the Islands Bill and, to date, that has been toothless, so are they going to replace one bit of toothless legislation with another?” 

He added: “If they want Coll to be another St Kilda kill-off, they are going the right way about it. I can think, just off the top of my head, of about 25 people who have left in 18 months. Things are just being eroded away.”

Mr Wheelhouse admits the demographic situation facing Coll is “deeply worrying”.

He said: “It reflects many of the challenges our island communities experience. That is why the Government, supported by the Scottish Parliament, passed legislation to ensure the unique needs of communities on islands like Coll are properly addressed and provided for.

“We want our islands to flourish. Our islands team will be visiting Coll this week and look forward to meeting people directly to discuss their concerns, including on transport, and I am keen to hear more about the challenges on Coll to try to address them.”

Regarding the question mark that hangs over the air service, a spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council said: “We remain committed to working towards a solution.”