Big is beautiful when it comes to fight against climate change

THE Scottish Government’s Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation consultation closes today and Ministers have trumpeted these new laws as a means of tackling the ‘adverse effects of scale and concentration of land ownership’.

They also plan to introduce a ‘public interest test’ on land sales and transfers of more than 3,000 hectares – a move designed to fragment ownership of land.

‘Big is bad’ is the narrative repeatedly trotted out – but serious questions need to be asked as Scotland is about to be subjected to yet another bout of land reform legislation. Do Scottish taxpayers really want to continue footing the multimillion-pound bill for land reform when police, the health service and education are under extreme budget pressures and when so much is already being delivered from Scotland’s land?

The Scottish Government is right to do more to tackle climate change but it needs to explain how putting new shackles on landowners who are making a major contribution to net zero is going to help. Its proposals will clearly put climate and nature projects at risk.

Numerous peatland restoration projects, which will assist greatly in capturing carbon, are already happening on large-scale and privately owned landholdings.

Such estates are also heavily involved in the development of substantial renewable energy and hydro projects. These projects would not be possible in fragmented land ownership.

The implication that there is nothing positive about the current pattern of land ownership in Scotland does a disservice to private owners, public owners, charitable owners and the multitude of community groups looking after land.

There is an abundance of evidence to show that modern large-scale land businesses make a significant and positive contribution to rural Scotland and have embraced community right-to-buy initiatives, improved community engagement, access rights and much more.

Whoever owns land, it is the use to which that land is put that should be of paramount importance.

There have been massive changes in the past 20 years and reforms – such as transparency of ownership and the opportunities now afforded to community bodies to acquire land – are well established.

Land in Scotland will play an important part in economic and environmental progress in the years to come. The language around this debate needs to progress as well.

Big can be good – whoever has their name on the title deeds.