Scottish Community Land Network

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This site is for people interested in the management and ownership of land-based assets by communities in Scotland. A Scottish Community Land Network, you might say... As you know the internet is a big 'place' with everything about anything so we aim to bring you relevant news and events, and provide opportunities to share ideas with other people interested in this subject. So far there are over 800 members, and more than 500 articles in our archive.

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Tenure & Ownership

Land buy-outs in the news

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Details: Tuesday, 04 August 2009 11:17 Tamsin Morris Hits: 538

Community buy-outs hit the headlines again last week (30-07-09), when the West Highland Free Press (WHFP) published on article speculating on their financial future and The Herald produced a similar editorial.

Picking up on the lack of funding currently available for community buy-outs, both articles highlight the need for a successor to the Scottish Land Fund and the Big Lottery Growing Community Assets funding programmes. The WHFP article also raises concerns about future changes to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise budget for sustainable communities, although the Community Land Unit at HIE have stressed that there is still funding available for potential land buy-outs at present. Both articles suggest that Sarah Boyack MSP has written to the Scottish Government to establish their future funding plans for new community buy-outs, although there doesn't appear to be a copy of the letter available on her website. You can read the full text of the West Highland Free Press article here and The Herald editorial here.

Since then, Stephen Maxwell has written a piece for Third force news looking at the reasons why so few buy-outs have taken place under the Land Reform Act. You can read his article on the Senscot website.