Crofting
Crofting register remains a thorny issue
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- Friday, 19 March 2010 15:19 Tamsin Morris Hits: 554
The Crofting Reform bill contains a proposal to establish a new register of crofts, which is proving a contentious point as evidence is presented to the parliamentary committee currently reviewing the bill. The current register is considered to be out of date and to provide only limited information, so the draft bill proposed that the keeper of the Registers of Scotland should be required to establish a new public register of crofts. But paying for the development of that system is a thorny issue, with crofters likely to have to pay around £100 to register their crofts. In their evidence to the parliamentary review committee, the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) have rejected these proposals, stating that they are 'poorly conceived'. Meanwhile, Roseanna Cunningham MSP has announced the creation of a £100,000 fund to assist crofters with the costs of mapping out their land and completing their registrations. But the SCF feels this would amount to only a 'token discount' for crofters and have suggested that the government should put more significant investment into a community mapping approach to complete the existing register.
You can read the views from both sides in the SCF and the Scottish government press releases.
