As a lover of the countryside and wildlife, I am unsure if this buyout would be good. In principle it appears to be well thought out and positive for the local community. BUT, it is in my opinion, wrong to go ahead with it until all avenues are discussed and all parties have had their say. Now I can almost hear people from Bute asking what it has to do with someone from Glasgow and thay would be quite right in doing so, but I think as an outsider it's good to get an independent view put accross to the people of Bute. On a recent trip to Bute, I decided to encounter the south end of the island part of the West Island Way, past Kilchattan Bay, out past the lighthouse, along to St Blanes Church, and continued to follow the signposts which led me to come out at the ameniety site (dump) at the rear of the houses in Kilchattan Bay. May I say how disappointed I was. It was apparent the local farmer had re-routed this walk by moving signposts to suit his farming, and redirected the walk through sodden fields to fences with no styles, through fields with cows and or bulls, I even almost managed to miss St Blanes, it was just my noseyness that I stumbled across it. Anyway, as you can gather it was a massive disappointment to me, in such a beautiful part of the island. My point is, if this lovely forest does get bought over, who is going to manage it? Please don't allow the farmers to ruin this part of the island as they have done at St Blanes. Just think about it, please. Oh and while I am on, On a spring visit to Dunagoil Bay last year, why oh why had the farmer closed the bay by puting bulls in it???? I really believe the farmer is not very accomodating towards visitors, and shouldn't the Bute council be taking appropriate action with this farmer, and encouraging tourists (BACK) to the island!

grants, grants, grants, grants, shame on you, fyne homes

As I observed on the Scotsman site, it's all very well for Bute to get just under half their population to vote on this and then publicly admit they're going to pass the hat round to all and sundry. May I suggest the 2,557 individuals who voted 'aye' put their hands in their own pockets and stump up £547 each. And not rely on grants for their project. There's too much of this about and it's easy to tick a box and rely on others to produce the funds. And just to slap turbines on the hill and get subsidised electricity.

And Mr. Bobby Reid raised some valid points from what I can see. It's a bit like buying an expensive house - you might be able to meet the purchase price, but can you pay the council tax and the heating bills? That is, can you pay ongoing revenue costs after you've got everyone else to contribute to the capital?

I note that the first comment in this thread says: "Now I can almost hear people from Bute asking what it has to do with someone from Glasgow and thay would be quite right in doing so...."

I write from where I live in Drumoyne in the Greater Govan area of Glasgow, as one closely involved with the GalGael Trust, which is a community organisation made up of people from some of the poorest parts of this city. I can assure you that locally lead land-reform initiatives like this give us all hope and have our full support - indeed, this has long been the case in the GalGael's work.

Even before reading this press item on the web this morning, I had said to my wife, and I paraphrase and elaborate what I said here: "We must raise with the folks about maybe organising a fundraising event for the Bute buyout at one of our Thursday open nights. We can probably get ... (a person who is a No. 1 chart-topping hip-hop singer). And then, put on an event which won't raise much money, because there is not much money in this community if we keep it local to hold it in our workshop space, but it might be of important symbolic solidarity for the people of Bute, and also a reminder to the community there to use this land in ways that will be inclusive in serving the needs of folks from hard-pressed parts of Glasgow, many of whose forebears came from surrounding places like Bute."

Community empowerment like this is always hard work, because it means nothing less than struggling to find deeper levels of what being community can really mean - community with one another, with the land, and with that within us all that most deeply gives life. True community empowerment is always the struggle between death and coming alive. We see it here in Govan where so many struggle with death in the face of addictions. I have seen it in most other West coast communities in Scotland in varying ways, and I am sure it will be present in Bute as well. What excites me about this buy-out vote has not

Ok for all those who think that this is hicksville then please get a hold of the facts before you comment. We have a second home on Bute that we use on a really regular basis, much like a lot of our neighbours, and as such we don't have the right to vote. The government are happy to take our council tax but not give us any resident rights. Therefore there are a significant number of us who are not allowed a say which is maddening since we pump a lot of money into the local community. We want the best for our local environment and it is unfair for those who know very little about the situation to make sweeping statements. Please have a little respect for those whose home this is. We don't come round into your front garden and tell you what to do.