Rural land buyout fund created

Jun 29 2012

A fund has been launched to help rural communities buy local land.

The £6 million Scottish Land Fund will support groups looking to buy land for the good of the local community.

Applications for the right-to-buy scheme will open on Monday, environment minister Stewart Stevenson announced during a visit to locally-owned Crossgates Community Woodland in Fife.

"Crossgates Community Woodland is an excellent example of what can be achieved when a local community, with a clear idea of how best to develop land for the benefit of its community, is supported to buy land," he said.

"This is an historic day for community land ownership in Scotland. Our Scottish Land Fund will empower rural communities to help them acquire land and is now open for applications. The Scottish Government fully supports community buyouts and is committed to building strong and resilient communities throughout Scotland."

The money will be managed by Big Lottery Fund Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

Crossgates was the first community in Scotland to successfully purchase land through the community right-to-buy provisions in May 2005. It also achieved ownership of the Taft, a 15-hectare wooded area, through funding from the first Scottish Land Fund which ran from 2001 to 2006. Since the purchase, Crossgates Community Woodland has planted more than 7,000 trees and created a play park and about a mile of pathways and tracks.

Neil Ritch, head of corporate management at Big Lottery Fund Scotland, said: "We know from our experience delivering the original Scottish Land Fund with our partners at Highlands and Islands Enterprise that communities can achieve great things when they own and manage local land and land assets."

Sandra Holmes, head of community assets at HIE, said: "Over the past 20 years we have seen the benefits that ownership of assets brings to our communities. Community buyouts are no longer experimental projects but an effective and proven rural regeneration model.

"Around 500,000 acres of land are now in community ownership in Scotland: more than the John Muir Trust, the RSPB and the National Trust for Scotland combined. The new Scottish Land Fund will enable us to maintain the momentum and enable communities throughout Scotland to invest in a sustainable future."