A 'QUESTION Time' hosted by Chalmers & Co chartered surveyors and estate agents last Thursday saw an informative and wide-ranging debate on the future of East Lothian's countryside.

The Q & A session, entitled 'A bright future for the Lothians?', drew a large audience of farmers, landowners, rural businessmen, government policy makers and analysts, and developers to Winton House, by Pencaitland. Fiona O'Donnell, East Lothian MP, also attended the event, which focused on the potential for future development of the county's rural industry.

Visitors put their questions to a panel of four, including Dr Alan Renwick, Head of Land Economy at SAC, Paul Wheelhouse, MSP, a former economist involved in rural policy, Mark Jennison co-owner of Realise Renewables, and Richard Heggie, from Urban Animation, a planning and urban design consultancy tasked with developing a town centre vision for Haddington.

Encouraged to 'stir the pot', the panellists identified that the farming sector needed to do things differently.

Dr Renwick warned of scarcer resources and greater competition, pointing to "sustainable intensification and 'smart specialisation'. He argued that agricultural subsidies had worked as a barrier to innovation, deemed to be increasingly critical for success. Mr Wheelhouse noted that the Scottish Government supports 'cohesion' in rural communities, heralding a need to focus on rural areas being viable centres.

Mr Heggie encouraged a move from urban-centred thinking towards greater innovation for rural planning, promoting a more integrated rural-urban fringe and even a rural parliament. Mr Jennison hailed the opportunities for renewable energy but bemoaned planning hurdles, disjointed policy, changing goal posts and the media.

All the panellists agreed there was a clear need to engage with communities (now a legal requirement) and the planning system generally if there was to be constructive change.

The panel was asked a number of questions by the audience on a range of topics, from community engagement and the impact of renewable energy developments, to how to conserve the countryside against the demands of a rapidly expanding population.

There was also discussion on how to reverse the "lack of positive support" in the existing East Lothian Local Plan for rural enterprise. Only five people in the audience admitted to reading the local plan, though it was noted that it was readily available to members of the public.

Hugh Broad, a local farmer, suggested a balanced rural economy needed a third commuting, a third retired and a third living and working in the local area. For growth, Simon McCreery, of Yester Farm Dairies at Gifford, referred to the need for independent businesses rather than just national chains who tended to purchase nationally instead of from smaller local enterprises.

As the event reached a close, Joe Harper, of Dods Seed, ended on an encouraging note by stating: "There are already lots of great businesses in East Lothian and good employers. We should be more positive. There are lots of good things happening here." Sir Francis Ogilvy, owner of Chalmers & Co and factor of the Winton Estate, concluded that "in today's world there is no place for complacency".