Chamber and committees

I congratulate Elena Whitham on her appointment as deputy convener of the committee. I look forward to working with you, Elena.

Thank you very much. I was delighted to hear the declarations of interests from councillors who are on our committee; I believe that Willie Coffey is a former councillor. I think that we are starting out with some great perspectives.

Agenda item 3 is to choose our deputy convener. The Parliament has agreed that only members of the Scottish National Party are eligible for nomination as deputy convener of the committee.

Elena Whitham was chosen as deputy convener.

Under agenda item 5, the committee is asked to thank the session 5 Local Government and Communities Committee for its legacy report—which was brilliantly done—to note it for now, and to agree to consider the report as part of our discussions on our work plan.

Do members agree to note the legacy report? No member has indicated that they are not content to do so, so that is agreed.

Agenda item 4 is consideration of whether to take item 6, which is discussion of our work programme, in private. Are we agreed?

I am seeing lots of thumbs up and positive responses, so I confirm that we agree to take that item in private.

I have no interests to declare.

Agenda item 2 is choice of convener. The procedure for choosing the committee’s convener is explained in paper 2.

The Parliament has agreed that only members of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party are eligible for nomination as conveners of the committee. I invite a member of that party to nominate a candidate.

We certainly have a lot to cover. You mentioned forestry, which gives us a fantastic opportunity, and not just from the point of view of carbon capture and biodiversity. Forestry involves a long-term vision, just as agriculture does. We need to look at how we can grow the trees and therefore produce the timber from which we could build houses in Scotland. We also need to look at how we can grow trees from which we can make added-value products, such as fibre. There should be investment in the production of added-value products. For example, there could be a fibre manufacturing plant in rural Scotland, in the south or up in my area—we could haggle over that.

There will be tremendous opportunities as we move away from oil and gas. We need to start thinking about how we can make all the products that are currently made from oil and gas out of things that we can grow in Scotland. I would love us to have a first look at that, too.

I want to underscore the importance of the issue of women in agriculture. I strongly support our looking into that. I have met some amazing women pioneers, and I think that we need to do the work to open the doors and support more women to move into the sector.

I have to say that everything stood out for me in the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee paper. I agree with quite a lot of what my colleagues have already said, but I just want to pick up on and emphasise a few points.

Whatever comes forward, whether it be a bill or not, the good food nation issue will be absolutely important. I would also like to look again at salmon and aquaculture, because I am concerned about the direction of travel in that respect, and an important piece of work for us will be on inshore fisheries and the restoration of limits.

I also feel that we could do some work on derelict crofts and on supporting the Crofting Commission in bringing more land back into use, given that so many people want to have and work crofts. Of course, there will always be climate change plans to consider; indeed, I am keen to look at anything to do with climate change.

An issue that stands out for me in the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee legacy paper is how we have a green recovery while responding to the twin emergencies of climate and nature. I want to look at land reform, given how much it underpins, including the housing issue that Alasdair Allan referred to. Finally, there is also COP26 to think about.

I am not an islander—although I would love to be—but I chose to be a member of this committee because I live rurally. I am also a member of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. I had asked to be the Green spokesperson on these areas before I got on to these committees, because I feel that what lies at the heart of the issues is rural depopulation and repopulation. We must ensure that we have places for young people who want to stay in our rural areas and affordable housing for those who provide much-needed services to our rural communities. For me, community is at the heart of the issues. We need to consider people, land and the environment all together.

Thank you.