Call to extend land right-to-buy laws

Published on Wednesday 13 June 2007 00:06

LAND-REFORM legislation should be extended to give some communities the absolute right to buy the land where they live and work regardless of whether the owner wishes to sell, according to a former government minister.

A decade ago, Brian Wilson set up the community land unit at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) on the day the residents of Eigg took control of their island.

Yesterday, the former Scottish Office minister joined the celebrations for the buy-out's tenth anniversary and challenged the Scottish Executive to take land reform further.

Existing law allows crofting communities the right to buy land whether or not the owner wishes to sell. However, non-crofting communities are only given first option to buy once the land is put up for sale.

Mr Wilson said extending the absolute right to buy would have helped non-crofting communities such as Eigg, Gigha and Knoydart to gain control of land far easier than they did. "I recognise you cannot go around expropriating land on a whim. But where conditions exist that would justify action against the landowner, then communities should not have to wait until that individual chooses to sell," he said.

A community-led trust bought Eigg for 1.5 million with the help of a near-1 million donation from an anonymous supporter, ending generations of uncertainty over the island's future as it was bought and sold by a series of private landlords.

Meanwhile, Amanda Bryan, a rural development consultant who has produced a forward plan for Eigg, said the island's population has grown by 25 per cent to 83 over the past decade. It is hoped to increase the number of young people on the island, with the majority presently aged over 40, by creating new homes.