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Land Reform Bill ‘gambling with the future’ of rural communities

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Land Reform Bill ‘gambling with the future’ of rural communities

The Scottish Government’s Land Reform Bill is gambling with the future of communities in rural Scotland and investment in the transition to net zero.

That’s according to a 46-page submission by rural business organisation Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) to the draft legislation, following a call for evidence by the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee.




Among its criticisms, SLE stated that the proposal to interfere with the sale of large landholdings by giving ministers power to split the landholding into lots jeopardises a range of projects supported by government, including housing provision, renewable energy, commercial forestry and carbon sequestration schemes.

It also argues that measures in the Bill to break up large estates rely too heavily on conjecture based on impressions rather than evidence, while evidence that land management at scale has positive outcomes for the environment and communities has been sidelined.

SLE pointed out that existing lending from banks and other finance agreements on property in rural Scotland are likely to require immediate review if property owners are no longer able to dispose of assets without recourse to government for lotting.

The submission also noted that no evidence appears to exist for the Scottish Government’s threshold of 1,000ha, 3,000ha, or any other defined scale, as a rationale for implementing onerous policies and legislation.

Land management plans, which are supported in principle, could, as set out, lead to a cost of more than £20,000 every five years for each estate required to do so.

Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive of SLE, said: “Some of the measures proposed present serious concerns not only for the owners of land but also for people, jobs and nature – this is gambling with the future of rural communities.”

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