Anyone with an interest in rural Scotland’s future should engage with the Scottish Government’s land reform consultation, property groups have urged.
The Scottish Government has published A Consultation on the Future of Land Reform in Scotland in response to the 62 recommendations contained within the government-appointed Land Reform Review Group’s (LRRG) report, The Land of Scotland and the Common Good which was published in May this year.
Reform proposals detailed in the publication include powers for ministers to intervene where the scale of a landholding or conduct of the landowner is deemed to be a barrier to sustainable development; the establishment of a Land Reform Commission; measures to improve the transparency and accountability of land ownership; action to ensure landowning charities engage with local communities; and the removal of business rates exemptions for shooting and deer stalking estates.
Members of the public have two months in which to respond to the consultation; the subsequent Land Reform Bill will be introduced in the next parliamentary year.
Robert McCulloch, partner in Strutt & Parker’s Edinburgh office, said: “Scotland’s new First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has made it clear that a ‘radical programme of land reform’ is high on the Scottish Government agenda. We urge everyone interested in Scotland’s future – particularly in the Scottish countryside – to make their opinion count by engaging with this consultation process.
"In our profession and amongst many of our clients, Land Reform is the hottest topic of conversation at present. The next eight weeks or so is the critical period for those with a view to make their voices heard in the corridors of power in Scotland by formally responding to the consultation. The public has an opportunity to inform and shape the future of Land Reform and it is important to capitalise on that.”
The consultation period runs until 10 February 2015.
