YOUR VIEWS: Massive rise in Inverness Airbnbs and North sea oil and gas
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Readers respond to issues that have been making the news.
Massive 80% rise in Airbnbs in city
There has been a sharp increase in Airbnbs across Inverness over the past five years.
Figures from AIRDNA, a leading provider of data and analytics for the industry, show that in May 2018, 613 properties were available to visitors to the Highland capital. In May this year it was 1870.
“80% fall in properties to rent for locals who can’t afford to buy.” – Graham Newlands
“Housing shortage?? Not for Airbnb, holiday homes and those coming to retire. Across the north of Scotland this is a big issue. Killing off many areas.” – Morag Macleod
“Not surprising, the Travelodge is over £150 a night, mass publicity of NC500 has also brought on a surge of tourists.” – Ray Shields
Oil and gas policy will be a vote loser for government
How ironic that it was left to Rishi Sunak to grant new licences for oil and gas development in the North Sea, thereby fostering much needed confidence in these industries as well as saving jobs.
The Scottish Government and their Green allies meantime seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that the alternative is shipping energy here from other foreign countries causing three or four times the carbon emissions.
They are also denying the people of Scotland the benefit of their own energy resources, but instead leaving them in hock to the insecurity of foreign imports, because gas and oil will still be needed for the economy for more years to come.
The Scottish Green coalition are so obsessed with carbon neutral targets which will achieve precious little while China, India and other countries ignore them.
The government is now proposing to force people to install unreliable and noisy heat pumps in their homes and threatening to deny them the right to buy or sell their homes unless they do so and imposing the same restrictions on house builders and others.
Looks like democracy is in danger.
If the Scottish Green coalition think that with these dire policies they will win over more people to vote for independence then they are certainly going the wrong way about it.
J Maclennan
Castle Heather
Inverness
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