…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Public access to land has been a source of conflict in Scotland for a long time but matters have improved in recent years following the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 which provides a right of responsible access to land. Every so
Continue readingThe Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 was passed during the first Scottish Parliament. It codifies the kinds of restrictions or burdens that can be included in titles to land and property. Among them is something called a conservation burden that
Continue readingThis above 30-minute has been commissioned by the Coalition for Economic Justice and was premiered at the RSA in London on 3 September 2013. A panel discussion followed the screening. On the panel were, Rt Hon Vince Cable MP, Business Secretary
Continue readingMap shows land owned by Scottish Ministers (purple = agricultural estates, green = national forest estate & red = Scottish Natural Heritage) Today, the Scottish Government announced that the rights to hunt deer on the Island of Raasay would be
Continue readingThe September issue of Scottish Field magazine published the first in a two-part series of articles on land reform by Jim Hunter. The article is published on this blog. The second part was published by Scottish Field in the October
Continue readingThere are many stories and news items on land relations in Scotland that I do not cover on this blog. I have decided that I should and so, in addition to the normal researched analysis and opinion pieces, I will
Continue readingImage: Abandoned farm on a Deeside estate. Should tenant farmers in Scotland be given the legal right to convert their tenancies into ownership of the farm that they and their descendants have occupied and worked in some cases for over
Continue reading“Price of farmland hits record high” scream the headlines today across all the media. The BBC, Scotsman, Herald, and local media from the Deeside Piper to the Kilmarnock Standard. All these stories have two things in common. First, they are
Continue readingIn this Guest Blog, Bill Chisholm reveals the extraordinary story of how one former burgh in the Borders has outperformed all the rest in terms of its common good funds. That burgh is Berwick and it is now, of course,
Continue readingOn 3 June this year, in response to a question from Ian Davidson MP, the Prime Minister David Cameron announced in the House of Commons that he would co-operate with the Scottish Affairs Committee in establishing who owns and controls
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