Land Reform Bill is a Major Danger to Rural Communities
Next week the Scottish parliament will take final decisions on new land reform legislation that will have far-reaching consequences for people, jobs and nature across rural Scotland. Many activists and politicians will see this moment as a cause for celebration.
However, I would urge them to think through what the impact of this latest Land Reform Bill is really going to be. The reality is that ordinary hard-working people on rural estates may well lose their jobs, wildlife and biodiversity will be failed and important environmental projects could grind to a halt.
This may sound alarmist, but these are very real possibilities and the unintended consequence of measures in this Bill that, frankly, have not been thought through.
The cabinet secretary responsible for the Bill, Mairi Gougeon, wants to change the pattern of land ownership by breaking up large estates and she has brought forward plans to empower ministers to force their fragmentation by insisting they can only be sold off in smaller lots.
So what happens to the people who already work on these estates and all the projects that are already delivered in line with the Scottish government's own policies?
Since I acquired Rottal Estate in the Angus Glens, we have transformed it into a haven for biodiversity, with regenerative organic farming, restoring wetlands, peatlands and woodlands, because we have been able to work with many government agencies to do so.
We produce renewable energy, organic beef and lamb, and welcome people to the estate who come to attend events, stay, shoot, fish or stalk, as well as walk and enjoy nature. Our integrated land use, at scale, enables us to pursue our great passion for improving biodiversity and protecting nature. Visiting politicians seem to acknowledge that scale in land use delivers benefit.
If I decided to sell up under the new legislation, the government could decide the estate should be broken up. If that happened, all the progress that we have made would be in serious jeopardy.
I am not alone. Many other estate owners and managers feel the same. The break-up proposals have brought uncertainty and risk into play at a time when private estates are doing most of the heavy lifting in delivering the Scottish government's environmental policies.
I am an enthusiastic supporter of communities having the opportunity to acquire land and I am not antiland reform. I urge politicians to put practical outcomes ahead of ideology when they vote on this Bill and row back on its most damaging elements.
Dee Ward is the owner of Rottal Estate and chair of Scottish Land & Estates
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