At the special meeting last night (5th April 2020) , the Comhairle voted to cease taking croft houses of communities to pay for care.
After a heated debate, councillors voted 9-8 to place a moratorium on the council’s policy which considered croft houses to be saleable assets and used them to offset care charges.
Councillor Donald Manford, who proposed the moratorium on the charging policy stated: “Before this momentous decision, a rented property with security of tenure was considered by the council to be owned by that tenant – that was simply wrong.”
Councillor Calum Macmillan, who called the special meeting and who seconded Councillor Manford’s amendment, commented:
“Comhairle policy takes no account of crofting legislation and security of tenure and misses the point that all the assets are held by the landlord in a heritable statutory conditions lease with the crofting tenant. Quite obviously the tenant is not the owner.”
Councillor for Loch a Tuath, Cllr John A Maciver commented : “We must strengthen this decision on this issue to protect crofting which up until now has sustained generations of island families.”
Voted for Moratorium
Cllr Donald Manford
Cllr Calum Macmillan
Cllr John A Maciver
Cllr John N Macleod
Cllr Ranald Fraser
Cllr Roddy Mackay
Cllr Iain A. Macneil
Cllr Iain M. Macleod
Cllr Gordon Murray
Voted to continue taking croft houses for care
Cllr Norman Macdonald (Convenor)
Cllr Donald Crichton (Chair of Sustainable Development, Chair of JCC Crofting)
Cllr John Mackay (Chair of Planning Board)
Cllr Uisdean Robertson (Chair of Transportation)
Cllr Finlay Cunningham
Cllr Paul Finnegan
Cllr Finlay Stewart
Cllr Neil Mackay
