Minister to laud land reform successes

FUNDING: Dr Aileen McLeod to visit community-owned South Uist Estate

More than 500,000 acres of land are now in community ownership in Scotland.

Land Reform Minister Dr Aileen McLeod will announce in the Western Isles today that 52 communities have received £9 million of support to help them purchase their own land.

A pledge to increase the Scottish Land Fund to £10m from 2016-20 has already been made by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, in order to support the Government’s target of a million acres in community ownership.

Dr McLeod will say: “Land reform has already delivered significant benefits to communities across Scotland, however I believe the Land Reform Bill will result in real improvements in how land in Scotland is owned, used and managed and will change the relationship between the people of Scotland and the land that we live, work and depend on.”

Dr McLeod is visiting communityowned South Uist Estate in the Outer Hebrides where 70% of the population now live on community-owned land.

“As we approach the end of the current Scottish Land Fund, it is great to see that so many community groups have been able to purchase their own land,” she will say.

“A fantastic example of a community making a real difference to the local community is here in South Uist where the community purchased the South Uist Estate in December 2006.

“They now manage 93,000 acres of land from sporting rights, fishing rights, croft land, various commercial and residential buildings and commercial land including quarries, fish farms and a MoD base, covering almost the whole of the islands of Benbecula, Eriskay and South Uist, as well as a number of other small islands.

Picture: George McLuskie. A series of demonstrations on Fife’s Falkland Estate attracted a big turnout of small-scale woodland companies and estates who wanted to see how the Government’s new Forestry Grant Scheme could help boost their businesses. They discovered how harvesting and processing capital grant options can help them buy appropriate machinery to increase local harvesting and processing capacity.