…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
I receive regular emails and letters from people on land matters. Quite often, folk will write with tales of how they or their community are having problems with landowners. I thought I should begin to share some of these to
Continue readingEddie Mabo (1936 – 1993) pictured above, left. On 3 June, 1992, the High Court of Australia ruled that the doctrine of terra nullius was a legal fiction and that the native people had good title which pre-dated European conquest.
Continue readingReforesting Scotland is planning to launch an exciting campaign to celebrate, protect, expand and enjoy the world of hutting in Scotland. For decades, ordinary people have enjoyed the freedom to enjoy the countryside in simple huts. However, too many have
Continue readingA couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by Holyrood magazine about the SNP Government’s plans to return control over the administration of the property rights and interests that comprise the Crown Estate in Scotland back to Scotland. Their article
Continue readingOn 5 March 2011, I was honoured to be invited to speak at the Aye Write book festival in Glasgow on a platform with Ray Perman, author of The Man Who Gave Away His Island. Our event had to be
Continue readingMy report on Donald Trump’s golf course is now published.
Continue reading
News reaches me today that a number of petitioners including Clydeport Operations Limited have lodged a Notice of Termination in the Greenock Telegraph on 21st April to seek the termination (under Section 20(1) of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003)
Continue readingEdinburgh Law Review has just published a review by Professor George Gretton of my book, The Poor Had No Lawyers.
Continue readingOK, In 2007, I prepared a paper on proposals for land reform in the 3rd session of the Scottish Parliament. The SNP Government did nothing. Last month I wrote another paper for Scottish Community Alliance on the way ahead for
Continue readingUPDATE 9 April 2011 Actually, the error I identify below (over-estimate of LVT revenue by £123 million) doesn’t look like an error on further examination. The land values in my original report were from January 2009 (the Valuation Office) and
Continue reading