Crown Estate defends Auchenhalrig Farm sale

Crown Estate Scotland (CES) has defended its decision to sell a 278-acre tenanted farm on the Fochabers Estate.

The sale of Auchenhalrig Farm, which carries a price tag of £1.625 million, has been criticised by the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA).

The tenants’ body has written to Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham and chairman of the interim management committee of CES Amanda Bryan, urging them to abandon plans to sell the farm.

STFA executive director Angus McCall said the sale made no sense when other public agencies were “scratching around to find scraps of land which could be used to help young people make a start in farming”.

Instead, Mr McCall said CES should offer the farm on a repairing tenancy – a new type of tenancy, which lasts for 35 years, where the tenant is expected to improve the holding.

Crown Estate Scotland head of property Andy Wells said he was sorry some farmers were disappointed about the sale of Auchenhalrig.

He said: “Unfortunately, the unit requires significant investment which would direct funds away from other projects that will benefit existing tenants, whom we prioritise.

“To ensure we provide and maintain buildings and other infrastructure across our 200 farm tenancies, we sometimes need to sell a farm when a tenancy ends. We only sell when there are no other reasonable alternatives.”