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People Too Conference
Who governs Scotland?
Dewar Centre, Perth 29th October 2004
Press Release
Filed 09 Oct 04
People Too - Free thinking
about expensive government
WHO GOVERNS RURAL SCOTLAND? is the theme to be
discussed at the next People
Too conference which will be held on Friday, 29th October at the
Dewar's Centre in Perth.
People Too, a rural network group which argues
for a reduction in centralised bureaucracy,
believes the time is right
to assess how post-devolution rural
Scotland is being governed,
to look at areas of possible concern and
to find new ways to safeguard our endangered freedoms and local
democratic rights.
With the implementation of restrictive planning
regulations, conservation designations, EU
directives, strategic funding policies and ever more government
controls, immense power
over the future of rural Scotland - on land and water - is passing
to the civil service and to
quangos, many of them working to the agenda of powerful interest
groups.
A varied and thought-provoking series of personal
views and case studies illustrating aspects of this trend will be
presented at the conference.
Conference organiser and People Too director,
Kirsty Macleod, said:
"During the three years that we have operated as an organisation,
we have amassed a wealth of anecdotal evidence that points to
one major conclusion: life in rural Scotland is being strangled
by red tape whose purpose is supposedly to improve our lives,
but when people try to defend themselves against its devastating
effects, they come up against a system that tells them to 'like
it or lump it'. Is it any wonder people are apathetic about voting?
"A myth is now circulating throughout the country that all
'stakeholders' have come to a corporate consensus with the Scottish
Executive on how our lives and futures are to be managed. Nothing
could be further from the truth. The massive changes which are
being made to our nation's way of life are being carried out by
a self-policing centralised bureaucracy without any real consultation,
much less public debate about the future consequences.
"People from all walks of life are
anxious to know whether our elected representatives can take control
and roll back a system of government that now interferes with
virtually every aspect of our lives.
And, if so, how. We may not come up with all the answers on October
29th but we will at least have started to ask some of the questions."
ENDS.
For further information, please contact :
Kirsty Macleod, People Too, PO Box 8002, Spean
Bridge, Inverness-shire PH34 4EP
Tel : 01397 712637
Fax : 01397 712655
Mobile: 07967 387021
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