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4 October 2023
Community groups in the Highlands had the opportunity to share their views on the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, during a visit to Aviemore on Monday by the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee.
Committee Convener, Ariane Burgess MSP was joined by Ivan McKee MSP as they met with local stakeholders to discuss the Bill, which is currently being considered by the Committee.
Members of Aviemore and Vicinity Community Council, Growbiz and Grantown Business Association, Laggan Forest Trust, Tomintoul and Glenlivet Development Trust, Cairngorms Business Partnership, Grantown Museum Heritage Trust and the Cairngorms National Park Authority met at Highland High Life’s ‘The Hub’ on Aviemore High Street to discuss the potential impact of the Bill on the local area.
Last week, the Committee published the responses to their call for views on the Bill which received over 780 responses.
Following the community engagement session, Committee members then met with the Convener of Highland Council, Cllr Bill Lobban, Cllr Glynis Sinclair, Chair of Housing and Property Committee and the Provost of Inverness alongside officials including Derek Brown, the newly appointed Chief Executive and Malcolm MacLeod, Executive Chief Officer, Infrastructure, Environment and Economy to discuss the Bill, community councils, community wealth building and the impact of the recent Verity House Agreement.
Commenting, Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said:
“It was great to be back in Aviemore to meet with local stakeholders, Councillors and officials to discuss the progress of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill as well as a range of issues of concern to communities across the Highlands which the Committee are considering.
“Hearing directly from local people, businesses and organisations about their views on the proposals is essential to our scrutiny of the Bill.
“Following our recent call for views, which received input from right across Scotland and it was clear that there is a significant level of interest in the Bill’s proposals from communities in the Highlands, the area from which we received the highest concentration of responses.
“The Committee will now consider what we heard in Aviemore alongside the formal written evidence we’ve received before starting to take evidence at Committee from local authorities, accommodation providers, tourist organisations and community groups, and then finally hearing from COSLA and the Scottish Government.
“After this we will write a report about what we’ve heard and give our view of the Bill.”
The Committee Call for Views ran from the 26th June until the 15th September.
The Your Priorities engagement site, where brief comments could be left, can be found here.
The Bill process:
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill is currently at Stage 1, where the Committee consider the General Principals of the Bill, after this they will write a report about what they have heard and give their view of the Bill.
This Stage 1 report usually makes a recommendation about whether the Parliament should support the main purpose of the Bill.
The Parliament then debates the Bill and decides whether it should go on to Stage 2 or be rejected.
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