…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
On Tuesday this week, the Court of Session published its opinion by Lord Tyre on a petition brought by East Renfrewshire Council (4.2Mb pdf) seeking authority to build a school on common good land in Cowan Park, Barrhead. Given past blogs on
Continue readingOne of the most welcome recent developments in Scottish democratic reform has been the Commission on Strengthening Local Democracy. which was established in autumn 2013. Chaired by the visionary Councillor David O’Neill, it has bravely gone where no administration at
Continue readingAmong the recommendations of the LRRG are that more effort should be made to complete the Land Register and that patterns of rural landownership should be mapped and better understood. In response to publication of the report, the Scottish Government
Continue readingThe socio-ecological NGO, Reforesting Scotland launched a campaign in May 2011 to promote the protection and expansion of hutting in Scotland. The Thousand Huts campaign has achieved a considerable amount in a short space of time. Last week the new Scottish
Continue readingFollowing the publication of the Land Reform Review Group‘s final report in May, the Scottish Government has committed itself to the introduction of a Land Reform Bill in the current Parliament. The report (hard copies of which are now available
Continue readingThe Scottish Parliament today passed the City of Edinburgh Council (Portobello Park) Bill. The Bill provides the Council with statutory authority to appropriate part of Portobello Park for the purposes of building a secondary school. Previous blogs on the background
Continue readingImage reproduced with kind permission of Jill Calder. From Robert the Bruce: an illustrated history by James Robertson & Jill Calder published by Birlinn, 2014. Guest Blog Poem by Martin Stepek 1314 ah remember 1314 it was nothin like they
Continue readingLast week BBC Scotland’s new Scotland 2014 current affairs programme took a look at land reform. The last time that BBC Scotland ran a studio discussion on the topic in its current affairs TV output was (if I recall correctly)
Continue readingOn 7 June 2014, the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, addressed the Annual Conference of Community Land Scotland at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye. In the most significant speech on land reform since Donald Dewar’s
Continue readingGuest Blog by Brian Wilson (pdf version) Brian Wilson’s column is reproduced here with kind permission of the West Highland Free Press. In the great span of history, the most significant of the recommendations put forward by the Scottish Land Reform Review
Continue reading