Why the SNP Government needs to listen to Kevin Costner's mysterious voice

In the 1989 movie, Costner is urged by a mysterious voice to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield – to effectively take a leap of faith despite the risk to his family of financial hardship.

The voice heard by Costner could just as well be speaking to the Scottish Government as it contemplates how to supercharge a green industrial revolution to drive the country’s economy – a goal that is becoming increasingly urgent with the gradual decline of the North Sea oil and gas industry, combined with the abrupt end to production at Grangemouth.

The solution – the “build it” and “they will come” message – is a simple one in the eyes of Alastair King, the Lord Mayor of the City of London Corporation.

Speaking to The Scotsman from last week’s Scotland’s Global Investment Summit, Mr King suggested more homes, hospitals and schools needed to be built near green energy projects in rural parts of the country.

Doing so would make these locations “attractive” to workers, he argued. In effect, these community facilities and resources would convince people to not only move to these areas, but then subsequently stay there.

His argument comes amid the backdrop of depopulation, which has been a problem in rural Scotland for decades. A report published earlier this year by NorthWest2045 suggested parts of the Highlands were facing an “existential crisis” and had reported their lowest ever population levels.

With green energy initiatives in the pipeline for locations such as the Acorn project at St Fergus in Aberdeenshire, the need for investment to capitalise is crucial.

First Minister John Swinney will get few better platforms to address this urgent need than this afternoon when he addresses the SNP conference in Aberdeen. He may just need to take a leaf out of Costner’s book and listen to that mysterious voice.