…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Following the previous blog which highlighted problems wuth the SRUC report “Family Esates and Rural Resiliance”, I am pleased to publish the following letters written by Dr Iain MacKinnon to Professor Bob Webb, Principal and Chief Executive of SRUC and
Continue readingA report was published today by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) entitled Family Estates and Rural Resiliance. It contains the findings from a series of 23 interviews with landowners of so-called “family estates”. The report contains a few interesting observations but
Continue readingFOR SALE Rosal Forest 6356 acres Offers over £1,850,000 “A unique opportunity to acquire a large commercial forest situated in one of the last wilderness areas of Scotland surrounded by stunning scenery. Offering a significant volume of commercial conifer timber,
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 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 readingIn the first of a two-part series in the Scottish Field magazine, James Hunter, a former chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Emeritus Professor of History at the University of the Highlands and Islands, sets out the case for
Continue readingIn the first session of the Scottish Parliament between 1999 and 2003, a total of 12 Acts were passed in relation to land reform – 20% of the 61 Acts passed in the first four years of devolution. There was
Continue readingThe Scottish Liberal Democrats hold their Autumn conference on Saturday 14 September as part of the UK federal conference. An interesting motion on land reform has been tabled by Hugh Andrew – Motion SC2 on page 10 of the Conference
Continue readingPhoto: Roxburghe Estate Photo reference Library Scotland’s landed class made the front page of the Scotsman yesterday under a headline “Lairds in warning over new buy-out powers”. The story is based around submissions of evidence to the Scottish Government’s Land Reform
Continue readingIn this Guest Blog, poet & novelist John Burnside reflects on the land, nature, folk and elite power. John’s most recent book is a collection of short stories, called Something Like Happy (Jonathan Cape). This essay was first published in The
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