Ex-council leader adds voice to calls for land reform

The former leader of Highland Council is joining the battle to make sure communities can get a slice of the “green lairds” land market boom.

Margaret Davidson wants to throw herself into the land reform debate, saying the recent trend in the market “really disturbs me”.

She has been one of the most prominent voices in local politics in recent years, leading the council since 2015 and serving as an independent councillor since 1995, before stepping down in May.

Her intervention comes amid growing calls for action to address the rise of so-called “green lairds”.

This new generation of landowners have been accused of pricing out community groups in the rush to offset their carbon and take advantage of government grants.

Mrs Davidson said it reminded her of the 1970s and 1980s, when there was controversy over forest planting in the Highlands as part of a tax concession scheme, with investments written off against personal income tax.

“Now it’s about the prospect of carbon credits and the big grants you can get for planting trees or peatland restoration,” she said.

“So obviously it makes financial sense because they are buying up every scrap of land that comes on the market, and that really disturbs me.

“I think they need to be looking at legislation.

“This is Scotland, we’ve got a nationalist government in – they should seriously be looking at who we sell our land to as a nation.

“We can still sell some land, but we need to be more careful about what we are doing.”

A recent report by the Scottish Land Commission (SLC) showed prices for estates had doubled in just the last year, that almost two-thirds of the deals were done in secret, while half of the estates were sold to corporate bodies, investment funds or charitable trusts.

SLC chief executive Hamish Trench spoke last year about the “option” of establishing community wealth funds in response to the soaring demand for estates.

Mrs Davidson said: “I think communities, people, need to just think, ‘hang on, do we want this to go on forever?

“Or is it time to look at the ownership of some of these estates?

“Or do we need to look at some community benefit?

“They need a share of what is going on.

“Even if they don’t own that land, they need a share of what’s going on.

“This is public money that they are getting.”

The former council boss said she would be focusing on the issue in the future.

“I’m doing a lot of background reading at the moment.

“I’m wanting to get upto-date, I’m wanting to get involved, and be part of the debate,” she said.

GREEN LAIRDS: Margaret Davidson wants to make sure locals can buy Highland land. Picture by Jason Hedges.