The Scottish Liberal Democrats have backed a motion urging the SNP Government to scrap plans to centralise the north’s development agency.
An emergency debate was held on the future of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) at the party’s conference in Perth yesterday.
Highland councillor Jean Davis branded the proposals “a bridge too far”, while her colleague Jamie Stone said the issue could come to define the local elections this summer.
Concerns emerged last year when plans to axe HIE’s board and replace it with a panel overseeing several bodies were unveiled.
Opposition MSPs subsequently joined forces to demand the Scottish Government abandon the idea, but ministers said they would wait for Professor Lorne Crerar’s report on the issue before making a decision.
Published last month, it recommended the retention of HIE’s dedicated board, but as a “delivery board” reporting to a new national panel.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown has since said he is reflecting on the report as well as the views of the ministerial review group and those expressed by wider interests.
The conference motion claimed the plan would lead to a “loss of local knowledge, risking economic development” and undermined “HIE’s unique remit to strengthen communities”.
After the debate, Ms Davis said: “HIE is too closely involved in the local democratic processes to be directed from outside the Highlands and Islands region.
“This is a representative democracy and the Scottish Parliament has voted these proposals down twice. The SNP Government needs to listen.”
Councillor and former MSP Mr Stone added: “SNP plans to strip the HIE board of its governance powers is causing real worry among communities and business leaders right across the north of Scotland.
“Be in no doubt, it is one of the top issues I hear about on the campaign trail.”
More than a dozen north of Scotland Lib Dem politicians have written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calling on her to intervene to protect HIE.
Scottish Lib Dem Leader Willie Rennie launched a petition in Inverness at the end of last year.
