Midlothian businesswoman wants you to have your say on rural life

Carrington-based businesswoman Lynn Mann is urging locals to take part in the National Council of Rural Advisers consultation.

Lynn Mann Supernature Oils.

The Supernature rapeseed oils owner has been a member of the council for a year, keeping busy working on the group’s proposals to improve rural life across Scotland.

Now she is urging people living in rural Midlothian to have their say. She said: “I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for people who live rurally to make their voices heard by government. We as a council are wanting to hear what people think about the best ways to create a vibrant rural economy and we will pass those recommendations on to the government.

“The consultation is really important. I hope people respond to it. We really want to hear from everyone.”

In June last year Lynn was asked by the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing, to join the council.

She said: “I thought it was a great opportunity living rurally. I was delighted to be asked to be involved.

“We got a lot of research done and we looked into things that have been done in the past and we thought about what would really help the rural economy.

“We have been out to other parts of Scotland to speak to people who live rurally to get their opinions.

“We have done a lot of work over the last 10 months and now we want to get other people’s thoughts before we finalise it.

“I think there are untapped resources rurally in business and in communities, to make it a better place for everyone to stay.”

You can access the consultation, open until July 24, at www.ncra.scot.