And then there were eight... latest couple decides to quit remote isle of Canna

ANOTHER couple have decided to quit the Hebridean island of Canna – leaving just eight residents by next spring.

Amanda and Aart Lastdrager, who married last year on Canna, beat scores of applicants to live on the island which is owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

But now they have joined the island exodus. Four families have left in the past 18 months. The most recent arrivals, Graham and Olivia Uney, decided to leave despite having only moved there in April.

The Uneys blamed the management of the island and are now moving to Shetland.

The families say they are speaking out now because NTS has previously dismissed their concerns.

The Lastdragers run the island’s Gille Brighde restaurant. Last year the home they live in, which is not connected to the restaurant, burnt down.

Mrs Lastdrager wrote on her blog: “We wanted a lifestyle, we wanted to visit the puffins now and then, paint a picture or two, help weed Canna House Garden, do stuff for a community, we wanted a dog. Small stuff.

“Bigger things – we wanted to work with other businesses, build up some winter business, cater to functions and events. We wanted to be part of a small thriving community. We never gave up trying, but we need to try somewhere else it seems.

“People come with skills and plans and real ideas, they want to put them into action – the NTS as a whole says it wants that. I have always supported the NTS – I grew up with them, many visits to their properties and land – many. I support their principles of conservation and preservation. But community is such a huge part of Canna’s appeal. Start with the people, not the past, and let it grow.

“Have an NTS physical presence here, but make it just a part of the whole. Look after Canna House, maintain the properties, increase the cruise ship numbers, stick to budgets and promote the island. But it is people that will make those things work.”