Community ownership of land should become a routine option for rural communities across Scotland, according to a new report.
Community ownership should become a “normal and realistic” option for communities to acquire land and assets, the report's recommendations highlight.
The report, prepared for Ministers by the Scottish Land Commission, follows a review of existing community right to buy mechanisms and community ownership in Scotland.
It makes a number of recommendations for the future, in particular that community ownership should become a routine option for communities, so it is “planned and proactive rather than reactive”.
The report recommends that there needs to be a “clear vision” for how community ownership can become a mainstream way to deliver development and regeneration in rural communities.
Informed by research by a team led by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), the report considered the experience of community ownership in Scotland over the last 25 years.
The Commission will now work with Scottish Government t shape the policy tools and specific interventions needed to deliver the recommendations in the report that include:
• Embedding community land and asset ownership into local place planning
• Ensuring that targets for community ownership reflect the outcomes sought in both rural and urban communities
• Ensuring support for community ownership transfers is provided across the whole geography of Scotland
• Considering longer-term sources of financial support for both capital costs and post-acquisition development
• Supporting negotiated transfer of land as the norm, whilst streamlining right to buy processes
Speaking about the report Lorne Macleod, Scottish Land Commissioner, commented that community ownership and right to buy has developed significantly over the last 20 years.
He said: “Community ownership is now seen as integral to regeneration and sustainable development in both rural and urban contexts in Scotland.
“It should be seen as normal and routine, as it is internationally, for a community to acquire and own land that could provide local housing, business development, community facilities, recreation facilities, greenspace, as a fundamental way to create more vibrant communities and regional economies.”
The Scottish Land Commission is now undertaking work looking at international experience of community land ownership to inform the long-term vision and delivery.
