Land bill sweeps away 300 years of history

SCOTLAND’S feudal system of land ownership was swept away yesterday, as MSPs ushered in a new era granting the public unprecedented access to almost all private land.

Labour, Liberal Democrats and SNP members cheered as the ground breaking Land Reform Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament, with only the Tories offering last-ditch resistance against the most radical change to the Scottish countryside in 300 years.

A total of 101 MSPs voted in favour with only the 19 Tory MSPs voting against.

The Bill will establish a "right to roam" for the first time, allowing access to almost all land - including the Queen’s estate at Balmoral.

The bill, which will gain Royal Assent next month, will also allow communities first refusal on land when it comes up for sale and give crofters a controversial new right to force landowners to sell their land, even if they do not want to.

For Bill Aitken, for the Tories, the vote marked "one of the darkest days of the Scottish Parliament. This type of legislation has no place in modern Scotland. It will have a dreadful effect not only on those living in rural areas, but on city-dwellers whose hard-earned tax will be used to pay for this Mugabe-style land grab."

Ross Finnie, the rural development minister, dismissed the attack and said the bill would "hugely benefit" people across the country. He said: "This represents a substantive piece of legislation, a very reforming piece of legislation, a progressive piece of legislation and I commend it to the house."

His deputy, Alan Wilson, declared: "I am proud and privileged to propose to the Scottish Parliament that the land of Scotland should belong to its people."

Roseanna Cunningham, for the SNP, said: "Freedom to roam on the land of Scotland is a right long asserted and dearly held by the Scottish people and I am glad we have taken steps to assert that right." She also said she hoped the new law would mark "the beginning of a significant change in the pattern of land ownership in Scotland".

But the passage of the bill was overshadowed last night by a row over the use of public money to purchase land for communities after Mr Wilson said he wanted to see adequate funds in place to cope with all the demands for land buy-outs - a bill which could run to many millions.