AN award winning architect behind some of Scotland's most stunning homes is the latest independence supporter to back Alba.
Alasdair Stephen, managing director of Hebhomes and director of Dualchas Architects, has been unveiled as endorsing Alex Salmond's party which wants to see a greater push on independence.
Their remarkable contemporary designs are inspired from the traditional local homes, the blackhouse which were byre dwellings in the tradition of ‘long houses’ which existed in Northern Europe for over a thousand years.
Alasdair Reid, left, pictured with his twin brother and fellow architect Neil.
On a campaign tour of the Highlands and Islands, Alba candidate Kirk Torrance met with architect Alasdair Stephen to discuss solutions to the housing issues facing so many young Highlanders and Islanders.
Stephen said: "We need radically new ideas in the Highlands & Islands. Young people are being priced out of the market as a direct result of an imbalance in tourism activity, compared to other sectors.
"Alba's plans to create a Scottish National Housing Company to invest in good quality, energy-efficient homes for social rent, is the right one. These can be delivered over the next five years, and will allow young people to stay in their community."
Torrance said: "We're now in an economic crisis and we need immediate intervention – tweaking things and hoping the future will be better is not enough. We need economic activity to expand quickly and we need to create jobs.
"There is no better way to do that than to build new houses and restore existing ones – and not by fiddling around with planning permission so big business can knock out another luxury development.
"We can create a publicly-owned housing company to build top-quality public rental houses out of Scottish timber, which gives jobs and training to young people, rapidly growing a domestic supply chain of timber products, and of course, providing great homes for people. If we do it right we can build as many houses as there are people who require quality houses, at affordable rents.
"We need to repeople and reindustrialise our communities. We need to change in who's interest our economy benefits. We need to change the powers of democracy to give local people a greater say in how their local communities develop. We need a new deal for the Highlands and Islands, to recover not just from Brexit and Covid-19, but from the long-term damage, our communities have faced.
"We would also like to highlight that the powers our nation will inherit with independence are critical to being able to achieve the above now as opposed to hoping for the benevolence of this and future Westminster governments."
He added: "Only by voting Alba on the list this Thursday will we be able to get started negotiating Scotland's independence."
After graduating from Strathclyde University Alasdair Stephen set up Dualchas Architects with his twin brother Neil in 1995. Subsequently, they founded kit house company HebHomes which Alasdair has led since 2010.
Alasdair has been a member of the SNP since 1985 and stood as the party’s candidate for Ross, Skye and Lochaber in the 2010 general election.
An Cala, pictured above, was designed to sit on a rocky escarpment near Armadale in South Skye, overlooking the Sound of Sleat.
It was deliberately located as close to the shore as practicable so as to make the most of site’s proximity to the sea and the stunning views.
The building was shortlisted in the Saltire Society's Housing Awards in 2019.
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