…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
The Inverness Courier today reported that the Qatari royal family has bought the 544 acre Eileen Aigas & Ruttle Wood estate in Inverness-shire. it was sold to a company called GoldenRod Ltd. registered in Jersey in September 2015 for £7
Continue readingTransparency in the Land Reform Bill: the only effective solution is disclosing the human being, the ‘beneficial owner’, behind companies owning land by Megan MacInnes, Land Advisor with Global Witness The Scottish Government has responded to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and
Continue readingThe Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee (RACCE) of the Scottish Parliament published its Stage One Report on the general principles of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill on 4th December. The plenary Stage One debate will take place in the
Continue readingIn January, I blogged about the opaque ownership of Kildrummy Estate in Aberdeenshire. A gamekeeper, George Mutch, had been convicted of wildlife crime. Under Section 24 of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, an employer or agent of
Continue readingThe Scottish Tenant Farmers Association issued the following media release today. WITHOUT ACTION, FARM EVICTIONS WILL BECOME SCOTLAND’S SHAME The Scottish Tenant Farmers Association has welcomed the focus given to land and tenancy reform at last week’s SNP conference and
Continue readingUPDATE 1 November 2015 I have submitted a version of this blog as further evidence to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee. This evidence also contains my opposition to the hypothecation of non-domestic rates for the Scottish Land Fund.
Continue readingOn Thursday evening last week, Channel 4 news broadcast the above 11 minute film on land reform in Scotland. It’s worth a watch. It highlights, among other things, how grassroots members of the SNP are campaigning for a more vigorous
Continue readingImage: Intensive grouse moor management on Millden Estate, Angus. A report on the damaging environmental and social impacts of the intensification of grouse moor management in Scotland is published today by the League Against Cruel Sports. The authors of the
Continue readingUPDATE 19 APRIL 2020 This blog, together with a subsequent one published on 24 February 2016, were the subject of defamation proceedings brought by Wildcat Haven Enterprises CIC against myself in a citation from the Court of Session served
Continue readingThis blog is reproduced with permission from the University of Glasgow’s Policy Scotland blog. In May 2014, the Land Reform Review Group submitted its final report to the ScottishGovernment. The First Minister announced in November 2014 that the Government would consequently bring forward a Land
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