“We ALL have one VERY IMPORTANT thing in common - we want the best for our community.

Full statement

If elected, I will do my utmost to work positively and collaboratively will all, regardless of political persuasion, in order to improve life in our beautiful Aird & Loch Ness.” - Helen

ABOUT HELEN Helen has run her thriving Beauly business for 12 years. Educated at Alness Academy, she had a successful legal practice in Shetland before working for the Foreign Office, advising on Human Rights and The Rule of Law in The Balkans. Helen is passionate about supporting our high streets because thriving village life brings many economic and social benefits to our community. Helen has shone a light on the appalling fact that Highland Council now ranks lowest in Scotland for literacy and numeracy and has called for an overhaul of Council actions so we can better support our hardworking and talented teachers, and give our children a better education. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 EDUCATION - Highland Council ranks lowest in Scotland for literacy and numeracy. We need an honest and thorough review of the Council’s actions regarding education. I have publicly highlighted this and called for a full overhaul of Council actions. There are pockets of academic success, many in Aird and Loch Ness but the average across the region is appalling. Let’s better support our hardworking and talented Highland teachers to do what they do best, which is to teach - they deserve better and our kids most certainly do too. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 ROAD NETWORK - our road network is crumbling, potholes galore, quite a challenge especially when it is dark. We’ve got to fix the roads because the damage to road users and cyclists is not acceptable. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 THRIVING VILLAGES - I champion our high streets and the benefits that “shop local” brings. Research shows that for every £1 spent with a local retailer, hairdresser, beautician, cafe, hotel, we get between 50p to 70p straight back into the local economy. That’s a win win and we need to support our high streets properly by overhauling the out of touch business rates system and ensuring we don’t end up with car parking charges being imposed on our villages. Where possible, let’s also champion Scottish and UK made products - the closer a product is made to you, the lower the co2 footprint PLUS you’re supporting local jobs. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 QUALITY TOURISM - Aird and Loch Ness attracts many tourists. Let’s ensure this supports quality jobs and better infrastructure. Aird and Loch Ness can lead the way in attracting good quality, sustainable tourism and I will fight hard with our talented hospitality sector to make that happen. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 GREEN ENERGY - we’ve got to step up investment in green energy BIG TIME but that should only be done with the consent of the local community. Personally, I’d be more inclined to welcome a mega turbine in my “back yard” if there were real, tangible financial benefits from that installation for my local area such as an appropriate annual payment to be used towards infrastructure such as roads, schools and other public services. These community benefits should be baked into the planning process and should be based on real community consultation and agreement. Oftentimes, the creation of new wind turbines also reeks havoc with local roads - that’s not right and we need to address that by making it a condition of planning that roads will be maintained.