The Land Reform Review Group's final report makes some far-reaching recommendations.
Chaired by Alison Elliot (being the only member of the original appointees to last the course), the Group was established by the Scottish Government in 2012 with the following remit:
"The relationship between the land and the people of Scotland is fundamental to the wellbeing, economic success, environmental sustainability and social justice of the country. The structure of land ownership is a defining factor in that relationship: it can facilitate and promote development, but it can also hinder it. In recent years, various approaches to land reform, not least the expansion of community ownership, have contributed positively to a more successful Scotland by assisting in the reduction of barriers to sustainable development, by strengthening communities and by giving them a greater stake in their future. The various strands of land reform that exist in Scotland provide a firm foundation for further developments. The Government has therefore established a Land Reform Review Group.
The Land Reform Review Group has been appointed by Scottish Ministers to identify how land reform will:
- Enable more people in rural and urban Scotland to have a stake in the ownership, governance, management and use of land, which will lead to a greater diversity of land ownership, and ownership types, in Scotland;
- Assist with the acquisition and management of land (and also land assets) by communities, to make stronger, more resilient, and independent communities which have an even greater stake in their development;
- Generate, support, promote, and deliver new relationships between land, people, economy and environment in Scotland".
An Interim Report was published in 2013 with relatively uncontroversial findings. This was followed by a 260 page Report covering issues including Ownership of Land, Public and Community Land Ownership, Land Taxation, Agricultural Land Holdings, Access, Water Resources, Freshwater Fish and Wild Deer.
Lesley Mearns is a Partner in our Land and Rural Business Team. If you wish to discuss any of the points raised above please contact Lesley at lmearns@thorntons-law.co.uk or call us on 01382 229111.
