Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, 20 Jun 2007

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Official Report 128KB pdf

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Interests

Good morning and welcome to the first meeting of the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, in the third session of the Scottish Parliament. At this point, it would be appropriate if members turned off their pagers and mobile phones. No apologies have been received.

In accordance with section 3 of the code of conduct, I invite members to declare any interests that are relevant to the committee's remit. Members have a note on the process. I declare my interests as a working farmer, the chairman of Ayrshire Farmers Market, a past chairman of the Scottish Association of Farmers Markets and the owner of a company for water and energy distribution services, which does not really make any difference to anything—it is an aspirational thing. That is my declaration—if members want to follow suit, I am happy to hear from you.

I have nothing to declare.

I have nothing to declare officially, but I should point out that I am patron of the Birse Community Trust, a local community trust in my area.

I have nothing to declare formally, but I should tell members that I am a member of the Scottish Ornithologists Club, a former board member of Scottish Natural Heritage and a former member of the Cairngorms working party and, subsequently, the Cairngorms Partnership, which the committee may discuss at some point.

I have nothing to declare formally but, in case we discuss energy efficiency or microgeneration at any point in the next four years, I declare that I received sponsorship from the Edinburgh Energy and Environment Consultancy relating to my draft member's bill on that subject.

I do not have anything to declare formally, but I am a member of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and I spent about 10 years in environmental research, working in various universities.

I have nothing to declare, formally or informally.

I have nothing to declare, formally or informally.

It occurs to me that I should probably add to my declaration that I am a member of NFU Scotland.