The assets that you mention are spoken about very little. People focus on renewables, offshore energy and farms, but a number of asset classes such as salmon fishing and gold do not get a lot of attention in public, although they receive attention from my team and our managing agent’s team. Nothing has changed in the management of those assets for a number of years. We still manage them on a national basis to ensure that they are sustainably worked, if appropriate, and that they are well looked after.
You mentioned a couple of areas where there are active gold interests. The most progressed gold interest in Scotland is at Tyndrum, where there is active exploration. Planning consent is being worked through with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park, and a developer is interested in a commercial-scale operation. That is exciting. There are a lot of regulatory hoops to jump through, but it is an exciting opportunity and, economically, it is strongly supported in that area.
Where gold is a non-economic or recreational asset, that can cause problems. A member of my team is working hard with Scottish Natural Heritage, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority and Police Scotland on issues of environmental damage and the concern caused by recreational gold panning. By that, I do not mean standing in a river with a plastic pan on a sunny day; I am talking about scuba gear and pumps, and the erosion of sites of special scientific interest, salmon beds and so on. There is quite a conflict there, and I guarantee that a significant amount of effort goes into quietly managing that. Although there is very limited income from that gold, it is still an important national asset that needs to be managed carefully.
The same is true of salmon fishing, and a member of my team is working hard on the wild fisheries review and the proposed changes to the boards, which I know you are all familiar with. A lot of work is going on with community associations that lease those waters from us, and many difficult issues are arising that tenants are nervous about and want some assistance with. We are working closely with them.
You are right to say that those issues do not always get the headlines in terms of people understanding what is being done, but I assure the committee that those assets are being looked after and that nothing has changed in the post-Smith period. We will continue to look after those assets until the changes go through.