The people’s land revolution sweeping across Scotland
AS NEW LEGISLATION IS ABOUT TO COME INTO FORCE, RICHARD BAYNES TAKES A LOOK AT THE COMMUNITY BUYOUT REVOLUTION THAT IS SWEEPING THE COUNTRY
ALAND rush by communities to take control of estates, woodland, empty plots and buildings is under way as ordinary people across Scotland join a new community buyout revolution. At least 160 bids are currently being made to buy land for the benefit of local people, with a surge in would-be buyouts in the central belt and other urban areas. If they all went ahead it would almost double the number of community buyouts helped by the Scottish Land Fund (SLF) – the principle grant-awarding agency for buyouts – since 2001.
The current wave of proposals has been sparked by the third and latest version of the SLF, launched in April, which has £10 million of government cash to spend every year from now until 2020, and crucially has been extended to include urban communities. At the same time rights to buy land have been extended under the Community Empowerment Act of 2015 to include urban areas.
Of current buyout bids, 34 are from towns and cities. A total of 190,000 more acres could come into community ownership, including the estates in the Highlands owned by minerals giant Rio Tinto, which at 125,000 acres would be the biggest-ever Scottish community buyout.
At present, communities have a pre-emptive right to buy land if it is put on the market. Further waves of buyouts are expected as new laws giving communities greater powers come into force in the next two years.
Community land advocates say the buyouts empower communities and give them a new entrepreneurial spirit as they take control of assets that until now have been controlled by private landlords or remote organisations.
The fund is being administered for the whole of Scotland by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Ailsa Raeburn, who heads up HIE’s team dealing with the fund, said: “Since SLF3 opened we have seen a huge amount of interest from a whole variety of projects and groups. There is no lack of ambition from communities wanting to take control of assets.
“We expect this level of interest to carry on and, with the new Community Empowerment Act when people will be able to request public authorities to transfer assets, it will grow a lot more.”
The Scottish Land Fund was first set up with National Lottery cash in 2001. A second version, SLF2, with a £9m tranche of Scottish Government money ran from 2012 to 2016. Between them, they helped 173 communities buy tracts of land and buildings.
Some of the SLF’s 160 current referrals – groups applying or likely to apply for cash for a buyout – were carried over from SLF2, but about 100 have come in the past six months alone, a rate administrators say marks a stepchange in the level of interest.
Previously communities had to be fewer than 10,000 people to qualify. Now any community can apply and the first grant from SLF3 was given to the Barmulloch Community Development Company (BCDC) in Glasgow. It received £85,000 to buy old church buildings that now house a boxing gym, money advice centre and meeting rooms, and will now expand and develop the facilities.
A £202,8000 grant has gone to the Greener Kirkcaldy group to buy the old Central Area Library HQ near the town centre to become a community food hub offering training, employment, work experience and volunteering opportunities.