Scottish Community Land Newsletter
April/May 2006
The Scottish Community Land Network (SCLN) aims to encourage and
support community land initiatives (CLI) throughout Scotland by
shared experience, networking and promotion of Scottish CLI.
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News - Woodland & Forestry - Renewable Energy –
Funding & Support – Events – Jobs - Training - Bits & Pieces –
A View from the Hills – Featured CLI – Links - etc.__________________
Hi all,
This has been a busy time for me both personally and professionally. As a director of the North Harris Trust we are hosting 2 community events, the recently successful HICEC event, Leading from the Edge and the upcoming Making Your Land Pay. Recently I attended as a witness the Parliamentary Committee consultation of the Crofting Reform Bill. Tomorrow with the Lewis and Harris Cattle Producers Group we are hosting 500 school children for a crofting day at the Long Island Rural Centre. That’s not to mention calving and tatties that need my attention. On top of all this came the news of the Holmehill decision, failing the Community Land sector very badly. I can’t help thinking that if the Land Reform Act (a fairly clean bill with no history) is failing communities then this bodes even less well for the Crofting Reform Bill with its tangled legal historical web.
I would be very interested in hearing from communities, successful or otherwise, about their experiences of the Land Reform Act and especially their application to register the community right-to-buy.
Cheers,
Steve
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Holmehill loses appeal – Scotland loses effective Community Right-to-Buy
Holmehill’s appeal against the Scottish Minister’s refusal to accept the late registration for entry to the Registrar of Community Interest in Land has failed. This is a further setback for the Land Reform Act which clearly will only support a very small minority of communities in achieving the Community Right-to-Buy. The Judge’s decision has only succeeded in enhancing the Ministerial Discretion (i.e. civil service discretion), setting a precedent that makes it unlikely that future communities will risk an appeal. Ultimately this makes the Community Right-to-Buy merely a community right-to-apply to register, the decision resting at the whim of an all-knowing civil service. The Summary of Opinion and the full ruling can be obtained through the Scottish Courts website. Andy Wightman has an excellent Preliminary Analysis of the ruling detailing both the decision and its impact on the legislation. Jim Bennett who chairs Dunblane’s Holmehill Buyout Group and is chief executive of Scotland Unltd gives a view of the court case process leading up to the recent decision in “Reflections on The Battle of Holmehill”.
Congratulations to the 3,000 strong community of the Galson Estate Trust(Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn), Northwest Lewis, who are poised to complete their four year struggle to acquire their crofting estate, thanks to a grant of £509,882 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Scottish Land Fund a further £127,470 has been provided by HIE. The trust must now raise £42,490 to acquire the 53,000-acre estate, which includes 20 crofting townships. This will help shape the economic development of the area and open a fresh chapter of prosperity for the people of the Galson Estate. A number of initiatives have already been developed for the regeneration of the area, including the release of land for affordable housing and a campsite development. A community-owned windfarm farm is also planned for the estate and a ranger has already been appointed. The community submitted an application in May 2005 to buy the estate’s common grazing under the Crofting Community Right to Buy under Part 3 of the Land Reform Act. This proved to be unnecessary as the owners recently started negotiations with the trust for the sale of the whole of the estate.
The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) has recently announced it latest round of grants. These include:
Isle of Luing Community Trust - To purchase mineral rights and two plots of land on the Isle of Luing, Argyll and Bute - £108,527.
Cockburnspath Community Inn - To purchase the building ‘Hays Terrace’ in the centre of Cockburnspath, Scottish Borders. This will be refurbished to provide public house facilities for visitors and walkers on the southern Upland Way - £35,955.
Long Island Rural Trust - To enable community control of the Stornoway Auction Mart via lease purchase. The Mart will be developed into a rural centre whilst retaining its important role as an auction mart - £46,555.
Birse Community Trust - To purchase Slewdrum Forest in Birse –
£120,750
The Findhorn Village Centre- To purchase part of a property known as The Findhorn Village Centre - £73,593.
Pennyghael Dev. Assoc. Ltd - To purchase the Pennyghael Community Hall in Argyll and Bute - £66,910.
Laggan Forest Trust - To purchase three development plots in Strathmashie Forest near Laggan - £151,360.
An enterprising community reopens village shop in Minard, Argyll that had supplied the villagers’ needs for over a century. The Scottish Land Fund encouraged a successful application enabling the Community Trust to purchase a property. An agreement was reached with the owner of an existing business to run the Minard shop in an effort to make both businesses more viable and to extend the range of products available to both communities. Funding for the conversion was secured from Argyll & the Islands Enterprise, the Scottish Community Foundation and the WHELK LEADER + programme. Since the previous shop closed in early October a team of volunteers have collected papers, milk and bread every day to distributed them, thus ensuring the continuity of service until the new shop opened.
The launch of the Calor Scottish Community of the Year Awards 2006 begins the search for Scotland’s top community. The annual awards aim to recognise and reward communities in their efforts to improve their local area for the benefit of everyone. Open to any properly constituted community group in Scotland, the awards carry a total prize fund of £5000 and cover every aspect of community life.
In 2006 the awards will be made up of four separate categories, Business, Environment, People and Communications. In particular the judges will be looking for evidence of initiatives that are community driven rather than led by outside agencies. For further information contact Ashley Ross on 01224 588900 or apply online. The closing date is 30th June 2006. See last years’ winners.
The Rural Community Gateway latest weekly poll surveying subscribers asked “Is it time Scottish Enterprise expanded its role to include community development?” The answer of course, is an overwhelming yes at 82%. Are Scottish Enterprise (SEN) and the Scottish Executive listening? SEN’s Neil Ferguson responds.
In England, new Treasury guidelines permit local authorities to transfer assets to community ownership at less than market value without seeking central government approval where community benefit
can be demonstrated and where the difference between transfer value and market value is less than £2 million. In Scotland, a narrowly defined consultation was carried out by the Scottish Executive ending March 2005. Despite repeated requested from Development Trust Associations Scotland (DTAS) the outcomes of the consultation have yet to be published. Similar arrangements for Scottish local authorities would enable a much more flexible approach to community regeneration, particularly in urban areas where land values can be very high.
The Public Petitions Committee has agreed to seek your views from the on the following petition:
Petition by DECIDE (Dornock Eastirggs Creca Initiative Development Enterprise) calling for the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to provide community groups with the right to take ownership of land where it is currently ownerless or abandoned by its owner/s for seven years.
Follow links for further information about the petition and a definition of ownerless land. Written submissions to the Committee should be provided both in hard copy and in electronic form by 25 July 2006. Contact Dr. James Johnston or Tel. 0131-348-5186
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Woodlands & Forestry
There has been some confusion about the status of the Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme (SFGS) as it was supposed to run until 31st August 2006. Due to oversubscription it was apparently closed from March 31st, see Letter 1 & Letter 2 from SFGS. Ron Hollingdale of Dunnet Forestry Trust confirms while it is the case that most of SFGS is now closed, Locational Premium SFGS are still available in Highland Region, Northern Isles, Glasgow and Clyde Valley and Central Scotland. FCS have stated that they will continue to accept applications for these LPs up to August as planned but will wish to discuss the timing of claims with applicants to ensure that the annual commitments are not exceeded and to explore the best balance between delivery of the LPs through the current scheme and delivery through the new grants scheme.
The Tree Council, a national charity that promotes the planting and conservation of trees in town and countryside has two grant schemes Trees for Schools Fund and the Communities Tree Fund. It’s open to both to schools and community groups proposing to undertake well-planned tree planting projects starting in 2006 during National Tree Week, 22 November – 3 December with grants of up to £700. For further info and applications see Tree council website. The closing date for both is the 31 May 2006.
The Forestry Commission Scotland’s (FCS) Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme (SFGS) closes in August 2006 with a new scheme replacing it, so apply now. The new EU Rural Development Plan ratified as the Rural Development Regulation, RDR, 2007-13 will to be introduced from January 2007will bring significant change. Details of the replacement support measures have not yet been agreed or announced. However, it is known that grants will only be available on a competitive basis unlike the current SFGS under which land ownership guarantees eligibility if scheme criteria are met. It is also known that new planting grants will be reduced and re-stocking grants likely removed altogether.
FCS and other stakeholders are currently undertaking work to develop a revised forestry grants scheme that intends to dovetail with the new Land Management Contracts (LMC) introduced earlier in 2005.
From
January 2007, forestry and agricultural support will be structured into a three
tier system:
Tier 1 - Single Farm Payments (SFP)
Tier 2 - Land Management Contract (LMC) Menu Scheme
Tier 3 - In development, but essentially targeting funding at environmental,
social and economic enhancement projects through competitive bids.
Also see Single farm payments boost for woodland creation.
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Renewable Energy
Fintree Renewable Energy Enterprise (FREE), West Stirlingshire approached West Coast Energy, the developer of a 14 turbine windfarm for an additional turbine, the “Fintree Turbine” for the benefit of the community. From this enterprise they hope to make their rural community of 500 a sustainable carbon-neutral energy supplier using additional funds for energy efficiency and conservation throughout the community’s homes. If this wasn’t enough they have start a spin-off organisation, Frost-Free to support other communities with similar ideas.
The Findhorn Ecovillage at Findhorn has had an extremely successful and reliable 75kW Wind turbine for some 15 years, providing about 20% of the electricity through their own grid. They are currently installing three second-hand turbines for a total capacity of 750kW. This has been achieved with support from the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI). The project is a collaboration between Ekopia Ltd, the original local development trust, and Caledonia Energy Co-operative, which is part of the Energy4All group. The Findhorn project is similar both technically and financially to that on Gigha. Gigha though significantly windier, does not have its own grid. Findhorn will thus produce fewer units of electricity but the average price per unit it receives will be higher.
A new step-by-step guide has just been published by Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company (HICEC) to help community groups find their way through the complex process of securing finance for renewable energy projects in a way that ensures community control. The guide comes with an interactive spreadsheet that allows the user to adjust factors such as wind turbine output, electricity price, proportion of debt finance and proportion of equity so that a good understanding can be gained about the impact these have on key issues such as debt repayments and cash balances.
For more information on the guide please click here or to request copies, please contact Marion O' Hara (tel 01463 244371).
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Funding & Support
The new Big Lottery Fund’s Investing in Communities was recently launched. This is a fund of £257 million which aims to bring real improvements to communities and the lives of the people most in need. The fund will run to 2009 and will see investment in social change in Scotland through 4 funds; Growing Community Assets, Dynamic Inclusive Communities, Life Transitions, and Supporting 21st Century Life. These grants are open to a wide range of groups including: charities, voluntary and community groups, local authorities, social enterprises and health boards.
If you are interested in applying refer to their leaflet and complete and submit an outline proposal form or tel. 0870 240 2391.
I’m glad to report that the demise of Scottish Land Fund has been greatly exaggerated and they have been reprieved at least temporarily. The fund still has approximately £1 million to allocate. The money must be spent by February 2007, so if your community group have a project especially those of acquisition or technical assistance that can be fully spent by this date apply now. The procedures and support team remain as before.
Under the Big Lottery Fund the new Awards for All Scotland fund has £30m distribute until 2009. This fund is designed for small community groups with a short and simple application form and a decision within 2 months. Contact Michelle or Daniel or tel. 0870 240 2391
BTCV’s Highland Youth Environment Heritage Programme provides young people aged 14-25 with the opportunity to participate in practical environmental heritage activities. There are a variety of types of work that will be carried out such as footpath creation, vegetation management, fencing, drystane dyking and wildlife garden construction to name a few for which appropriate training is provided. For more info about the BTCV’s Highland Youth Environment Heritage Programme contact Keith Locke or Tel: 01463 811560.
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Talks on the Community Right-To-Buy under the Land Reform Act will be given by Andy Wightman at the following locations:
Kelty 3 May 7pm - Jock Penman, Kelty Partnership
Dingwall 4 May - George Harvey, Dingwall Community Council
Lockerbie 9 May - Mairi Telford-Jammeh, Dumfries & Galloway Council
Maybole 10 May 2006 - David Kiltie, Maybole Community Council
Crofting Reform Bill - Parliamentary Committee Hearing - 15th May Parliament Visitor Services or 0131 348 5200 - HIE HQ, Cowan House, Inverness
DTA Scotland Conference & AGM – 4/5 June – Aileen Tulloch -Dundee
Easdale Island has just published a season of chocker full of arts events. Check them out at the Easdale Hall events calendar.
For further upcoming events see website at SCLN Events
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Seminar on Non Timber Forest Products - 10/11 May – Beauly
Train the Trainer – 11/12 May - Plockton
Making Wild Lands Pay – 25th/26th May - North Harris
The CLU is running this series of training programs for community
groups, by community groups. These are open to any community group in
Scotland but are entirely free to those of the HIE area. Contact Neil
at the CLU for up-to-date info.
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Bits and pieces – Ideas from all over
Angus Hardie, Development Trust Scotland summarises some of the points from the Office of Deputy Prime Minister - Creating Sustainable Communities’ (ODPM) recent report Communities Taking Control: Final Report of the Cross-sector Work Group on Community Ownership and Management of Assets (not only a mouthful but a 3 gig download!). “I’ve just had a flick through the report to the ODPM and it is interesting in that while they used Scotland as a starting point to get the discussion going in England, they are saying that the Scottish model is unnecessarily complicated and places too much of a burden on communities in terms of becoming a community body and the consultation. The English version is going to be much looser and I think comes from a different starting point i.e. the community right-to-buy is a mechanism to regenerate communities. Eligible land is going to cover urban as well as rural.” Some other points include that the model should avoid the need for ministerial consents; the use of publicity to make people aware of their rights to buy and to promote uptake; and the creation of an investment fund to help communities buy land. I hope we can apply some of these ideas back onto the Scottish model.
In response to difficulties experienced by community groups in completing the application form under the Land Reform Act to register a community interest in land, Model or Specimen completed Application Form together with Notes on Completion and attachments can be downloaded on Information page on Andy Wightman’s Land Reform Act website.
The Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS) and
Community Land Unit (CLU) have jointly commissioned two studies
Demystifying Trusts - on the legalities of trust status and
Trading Subsidiaries -the legalities of trading subsidies or
charitable bodies. Stephen Phillips has authoritatively written easy-
to-read guides on these subjects. Very useful especially to groups
just starting-off, they can be downloaded and freely-exchanged from
HIE.
David & Mairi Cameron, North Harris Trust, contributed a link to Burlington Community Land Trust, Vermont, America’s First municipally-funded and the largest community trust in US. They have an interesting model for allowing social housing projects to remain available for future social needs and not become part of the housing problem after the initial placement.
Munro Gauld, CLU, contributes this link on Community Land Trusts (CLT) from The New Start Magazine a community regeneration newsletter. CLT are regarded largely but not exclusively as a vehicle for social housing solutions. This article gives an excellent overview of the subject.
Andy Wightman corrected me on oft misquoted 7/84 statistic. Andy says “The 7/84 statistic pops up all over the place and is frequently misunderstood. It forms the basis of the 7:84 Theatre Company's name and they claim that it came from a 1966 article in the Economist which stated that 7% of the population in the UK owned 84% of the wealth. My understanding is that this was confirmed by subsequent report of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of Wealth and Income which Margaret Thatcher wound up. It certainly refers to the distribution of wealth and not land. Land statistics are 66% owned by 0.08% of the population (and some of that 0.08% does not actually form part of the population of 5 million because they live elsewhere!). If 7% of then population owned 85% of the land that would in fact be an 87 fold improvement on the existing state of affairs!” In this case the truth is more theatrical than the fallacy!
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The impending Crofting Reform Bill is of great significance to the community land sector with crofting tenants and more broadly to the larger Highland community. The Scottish Executive’s visionless and anonymously-authored Bill is at the committee evidence stage. This stage gives you the right to present a written submission to the committee. So far the authors of bill have incorporated little of the valid representation made in the previous draft stage.
This bill will effectively drive a permanent wedge between crofters and communities that were once synonymous. This will enshrine the existing crofters right-to-buy and the ability to assign a croft at market-value. Undoubtedly crofting’s success has been in retaining communities where there would be none; with few exceptions crofting been not been about personal gain but about a home, a lifestyle and being part of a larger community. This historic crofters’ right-to-buy was as radical a method of dealing with the land-ownership issues as those times would permit. Today there are other vehicles to empower crofters and their communities; this individual right-to-buy with free-market assignation more than any other factor will be the final nail in the demise of crofting.
The Bill in its current form does not recognise the significant difference between private and community landlords. How can a community put at risk the hard won assets of community ownership only to see these assets sold piecemeal by individual crofters to the highest bidder? While crofts should remain primarily to benefit the individual crofter, the larger vision should be to realise a vigorous community that can only be maintained by having crofters that will reside on and use their crofts for a living or lifestyle.
On the positive side the Draft bill will formalise the right to create new crofts. Unfortunately this will never materialise while the threat of individual crofter’s right-to-buy remains hanging over the community.
As with the Land Reform Act the power of this legislation will ultimately lie with those given the remit to administer and regulate crofting. The only body that could intrinsically understands the complex communities underpinned by crofting, are the crofters themselves. It should be a Crofter’s Commission, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, of the crofters, by the crofters, for the crofters.
As communities, the responsibility of influencing the current legislation requires you to respond to the Parliamentary Committee now.
Agree, disagree or have another opinion you like aired, contact steve@communityland.org.uk
The Community Land Unit will be that bit less bright as Munro Gauld and Nuala McKay are moving on to pastures new. Munro is starting a self-build project in Perthshire for his expanding family. Nuala has been seconded to the Falkland Islands Development Co for two years, to keep company with sheep and penguins. Both will be missed throughout Scotland for their enthusiastic support of emerging communities. Wishing them both a very personal - Good Luck!
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Featured CLI – Borders Community Woodlands & Wooplaw
For the full story see SCLN Featured CLI
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For relative links, resources or community groups see the respective
links at SCLN Links, SCLN Resources or SCLN Community Groups
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Thanks to contributions from Jim Bennett, David/Mairi Cameron, Andy Wightman, Graham Boyd, Aileen Tulloch, Ron Hollingdale, Ilona Traut, Munro Gauld, Neil Gerrard, Diana Campbell, Angus Hardie & others.
This newsletter has been generously funded by
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE),
Lomond & Rural Stirling Leader+
and North Highland Leader+
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--------------------------------Disclaimer---------------------------
The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are for general
information and do not represent those of the Community Land Unit,
Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Lomond & Rural Stirling Leader+ or
North Highland Leader+
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