…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
The Ferret ran a story today about how the asset management company, Gresham House has been taken over by US private equity form Searchlight Capital Partners LP. “The Scottish Government’s investment bank gave £50m to a forestry scheme that has
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Introduction This blog introduces my proposals for a comprehensive Land Reform Bill – one that goes far further than existing proposals in reforming Scotland’s land governance. I plan to publish further blogs outlining in more detail the background rationale and
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In this blog I hope to crystallise my thoughts on some of the reasons why current Scottish Government policy on carbon markets is flawed and undermines efforts to tackle climate change. This is a very brief overview and assumes some
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The Melville Monument in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh stands 152 foot-high and with a statue on top of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. (1) The monument was constructed between 1821 and 1823 and the statue was added in 1827.
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On 8 January 2020, the then Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart, made a statement to Parliament announcing the Government’s proposals for the regulation of short-term lets. I had been campaigning on this topic alongside other MSPs such as Kezia Dugdale for
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There has been much discussion in mountaineering club circles as to whether the operators of mountaineering club huts will need to apply for a short-term let (STL) license under the The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets)
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In my previous blog I discussed whether the new short-term licensing regime covers house swaps and house sitting. House swaps are where two parties agree to swap their home for a period of time (usually for a holiday). House sitting
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The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 obliges hosts and operators of short-term let accommodation to obtain a license in order to continue to be able to trade legally. Excluded from the this requirement is
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There has been quite a stooshie about new short-term letting (STL) regulations. The deadline for applying for an STL license is 1 October 2023 (having been extended for 6 months from 1 April 2023). What is going on? Background I
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The biennial survey of public opinion about forestry has been published today. The Government is apparently pleased with what the public have to say but reading the actual results, they should, instead be rather concerned. Let’s start with the statistic
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