Crofting

Over the past 30 years, I have taken an active interest in the issue of landownership and land use. This first emerged in my support for the Isle of Eigg buy-out, which came to fruition in 1997. Four years earlier, the Crofting Act was put on the statute book for Scotland. One aspect of this, which allows the landowner to veto developments proposed by their tenantry (section 50B in the Act), has been highlighted by the Court of Session (the highest court in Scotland) as needing to be repealed. 

 Back in 1883, Lord Napier of Ettrick headed up a six man commission who went round the crofting areas of Scotland to gather evidence on the conditions of crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands. This resulted in the Crofting Act of 1886, which was the foundation stone to improve the lot of crofters. Security of tenure is an important aspect, but so is the right of a crofter (or his community, as in the case highlighted in the article linked above) to develop the land as he sees fit. The 1993 Crofting Act still allows the landowner a veto, which (to my mind) runs directly contrary to the spirit of the original 1886 Crofting Act.