An early entry today, to start the day off properly, and a heads-up to watch Balamory on Cbeebies where once again you'll see our youngest son (Spike) singing and dancing on the program.
Carradale has a small yet popular primary school, also used by the pre-school nursery and playgroup. Falling school rolls is a continual problem for rural areas as families move away in search of work and housing. Lack of suitable or affordable housing is perhaps the biggest problem and affects the Highlands and Islands region more so than perhaps any other part of the UK.
The government yesterday announced plans to introduce a shared-ownership scheme for first time buyers to help them make the first step onto the housing market. Whilst I applaud the fact that they're doing *something*, the effects of this will only be short term as once these properties are absorbed into the general housing market the situation will be back to square one, with a new batch of squeezed-out first time buyers.
I don't know what the eventual solution will be but I've some pretty strong ideas, not all of which will find favour with the Treasury in Whitehall. More of that another day perhaps. Click HERE to comment to this blog entry.(C)Copyright The Carradale Goat 2010
![[Balamory]](../clips/balamory.gif)