The SNP and Landed Elites
I have been on a quest for some time to fathom why on earth the SNP Government is not doing more (doing anything in fact) on land reform. It has announced a new Scottish Land Fund but that is simply
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Human Rights and Scottish legislation
I am grateful to Lallands Peat Worrier for his comments on a draft of this blog. A dispute over a farm in East Lothian may be responsible for the second time in two months for the provisions of an Act
Continue readingTenant Farming in Crisis
Landownership in rural Scotland remains hugely concentrated in the hands of very few large landowners. Whilst the kinds of reforms that might change this appear to be on the back-burner as far as the Scottish government is concerned, there is
Continue readingLand tenure and Deeside gaelic
Pictured above is Rob Bain of Ardoch, Deeside, Aberdeenshire who died in July, 2010. Rob was the son of Jean Bain, the last native speaker of Deeside Gaelic who died in 1984. In an interview with Sheena Blackhall, Rob
Continue readingCorrour Estate and tax havens.
As the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) bill makes its way through Parliament, those of us who wish to see a crackdown on tax havens being used to record title to land in Scotland might care to recall this story of
Continue readingLand Reform 10 years on
Last week saw the 10th anniversary of the Stage 1 debate on the Land Reform (Scotland) bill in the Scottish Parliament. It is interesting to note some of the statements made by MSPs at the time. Column numbers are in
Continue readingLand Registration etc. (Scotland) Bill 6
In relation to my previous post discussion the Stage 1 report on the Long Leases (Scotland) Bill, it is only right that I should also highlight the Stage 1 report on the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Bill published on 6
Continue readingThe fight to save Waverley Market is now over
UPDATE 25 APRIL 2012 In the Stage 1 debate on the Long Leases Bill, Stewart Stevenson, the Minister in charge of the Bill announced that the Scottish Government were looking at possibility of exempting Waverley Market on the basis that
Continue readingCommunity Ownership in the Highlands & Islands
One of the first serious books I ever read (my 1982 John Donald hardback edition sits on the shelf beside me) was James Hunter’s The Making of the Crofting Community. It is a mark of Hunter’s brilliance that his
Continue readingForest Ownership in Scotland
Westwater plantation in Dumfries-shire – owned by a landowner in Surrey and granted over £1 million in Scottish forestry grants. Last year I was commissioned by the Forest Policy Group to undertake research into who owns Scotland’s forests. The report
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