The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Crofting Commission says sorry over grazing disputes
Committees: Board’s motion urges convener to tender his resignation
The Crofting Commission yesterday issued an apology to crofters over its handling of grazings committee disputes.
The board of the government agency also yesterday put forward a motion requesting that its convener, Colin Kennedy, tender his resignation.
“The Crofting Commission wishes to apologise for the way it has handled recent grazings committee cases,” said the commission in a statement.
“Three unprecedented cases have been considered by the commission under Section 47( 8) of the Crofting Act and resulted in committees being put out of office. The decisions taken by the commission have created a poor result for everyone involved.
“The actions taken in these cases did not enable communities to work together for the benefit of crofting and in fact have had an adverse impact on the crofting community.
“The commission acknowledges that the recent decisions have caused prolonged uncertainty and anxiety not only for the three communities in- volved but for all crofters, and for this we are sorry.”
The commission said it would continue to engage with the Scottish Government to look at greater flexibility in crofting legislation, and work with stakeholders to develop good-practice guidance for grazings committees.
It added: “We would like to reassure crofters that, as the regulator of crofting, our main focus continues to be securing the future of crofting through effective regulation and we look forward to working constructively with crofters, grazings committees and crofting stakeholders.”
The apology from the Crofting Commission comes after intervention from Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing last week.
Mr Ewing had demanded the commission “swiftly resolve” problems surrounding disputes with common grazings committees.
His intervention came after months of unrest in the crofting sector with the Scottish Crofting Federation repeatedly calling for Crofting Commission convener Colin Kennedy to quit.
“Decisions have caused prolonged uncertainty and anxiety”