…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
On Thursday this week, the Devolution (Further Powers) Committee will take evidence on the Smith Commission proposals to devolve responsibility for the administration and management of the property, rights and interests that comprise the Crown Estate in Scotland (paras 32-25
Continue readingGuest Blog by Fred Harrison, Land Research Trust. Austerity has caused deep anguish for people across Europe. They did not cause the depression that followed the financial crisis of 2008, but they are paying the price. Scotland’s government has announced its determination
Continue readingThe Scottish Government has announced the remit and membership of the Commission on Local Tax reform. I am very pleased to have been nominated as a member of the Commission on Local Tax Reform and look forward to meeting the other
Continue reading“The latest developments in the story of Parliament House (see previous blog) are as follows. ONE Scottish Green Party Councillor Gavin Corbett has had meetings with senior officials in the Council and shares his thoughts here. TWO The Leader and
Continue readingImage: De Wit version of Gordon of Rothiemay’s original 1647 plan showing Parliament House seven years after construction. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with the subject of
Continue readingGuest Blog by Fred Harrison, Land Research Trust. Scotland’s First Minister has created an awkward rod for her political back. Her attack on the Coalition Government’s “austerity” policies renders the SNP vulnerable to its enemies in Westminster. Speaking in London on
Continue readingHighland Titles Ltd. is one of those websites that offers you a small plot of land as a souvenir purchase. Yesterday, on twitter, some merriment was had by challenging the claim that such plots conferred any ownership of the land.
Continue readingThe attempts by South Cowal Community Development Company (SCCDC) to acquire Castle Toward in Argyll have attracted widespread media attention. See reports here and here as examples. Last week I was sent an email by one of those behind the acquisition.
Continue reading“I’m deeply dismayed that this issue has been re-opened again. I can understand that there are always going to be some people who object to large-scale landownership but we felt that that was dealt with at the time of the
Continue readingImage: Map of Applecross Estate Proposal 6 in the Scottish Government’s consultation paper on land reform (see link here) is to introduce a statutory duty of community engagement on charitable bodies that own land. There are four main types of charitable
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