Sorry, Mr Stewart—I thought that you were making a statement in favour of the bill.
On the benefits, what can I say? You have been here with your own bill, Mr Stewart, so you will appreciate that it becomes your baby. The benefits, in my view, are potentially substantial.
Let us take the benefits for those who object, whose position I fully understand. In due course the bill will, if it is passed and there is a deferral period, give all the parties who cherish the hills—the farmer, the hill walker, the casual visitor and the school party—an opportunity to get their heads together and find a way of ensuring that all their proper needs are met and respected. That is one of the benefits.
Another benefit relates to the fact that so far we have not used the hills enough. I have spoken about pressure, but we have not used the hills for health purposes. Instead of the doctor prescribing pills, they could prescribe a wee walk in the hills. We have not used the hills efficiently for educational purposes, either. The hills have many advantages that, properly exercised—I stress that to Mr Fergusson—enable our children to be aware of the wildlife on their doorstep, where their meat comes from, and what farming really means and the issues that prevail.
I recently went up—on a great big four-wheel-drive thing, happily—to a farmer’s land away in the middle of nowhere. Apart from the fact that it was wonderful, I realised the difficulties for the farmer in preventing rustling, which is actually very common in Scotland. Often the sheep farmer does not know until he brings the sheep down from the hills how many have been taken. Another benefit of access is that, if people are walking in the hills and see something amiss, they can tell the farmer, because he cannot be everywhere at once.
I see huge benefits from the bill. If you asked me about the disbenefits—the negative side—I would honestly be at a loss to find them. The bill presents an opportunity, not a problem. I am delighted that the negatives have been submitted, because I have to rise to answer them, as I hope I am doing. I cannot see any disbenefits, but I see benefits for generations to come.
In my short lifetime, I have seen green space melting away around wherever I have lived. If that has happened in my lifespan, what will happen to green space in the next 30 or 40 years? Perhaps the problem is not so obvious in Galloway, the Borders or the Highlands, but it is obvious in a huge conurbation such as Edinburgh that is extending outwards, with places such as Penicuik expanding to embrace the Pentland hills. The bill is intended to ensure that we do not let a creeping urbanisation happen and that, if more people need to access the hills, they do so in a responsible fashion.
We will, I hope, have in place proper warden services and so on. That is not specifically in the bill, but it is part of my vision—if I may use that awful word—for what would happen.