Action plan to tackle depopulation

TACKLING depopulation and the growing trend of young people choosing to leave Dumfries and Galloway looks set to be a top priority for councillors and youth councillors.

Dumfries and Galloway’s full council and youth council are partnering on a shared action plan for 2026/27.

They will be looking closely at key issues raised by 10,000 young people in the ‘10,000 Voices’ survey completed in 2023.

The main issues were smoking and vaping, diet and body image, mental health, bullying, and money, budgeting and cost of living.

However, more than half of the young people surveyed also expressed a desire to leave this region as adults.

Officials have shined a spotlight on this fact, and have suggested it could form a key part of the shared action plan that will be drawn up by councillors and members of the youth council.

The development of the shared action plan is due to be discussed at a joint meeting of the council and youth council in Dumfries today.

A report states: “Members should note that within 10,000 Voices there was 55.1 percent of young people who said that they were planning to leave the region for work, study or employment.

“The data also tells us that 25.1 percent would plan to return to the region in the future.

“A key focus of this joint meeting is to allow dialogue between all elected members and youth council members about the key issues and identify any outstanding and new actions to address them which should be developed in the coming year.”