Land

The Scottish Land Fund has awarded £1,586,398 to 11 community ownership projects.

A community development company on the island of Colonsay, population 135, has been awarded £390,000 to buy land to build affordable housing and to create a site for affordable business units. The money will be used to buy two areas of land around the settlement of Scalasaig as part of a project to build homes for island residents.

In our Hands: Community Ownership in the South of Scotland

Full programme

The South of Scotland is now one of the fastest growing areas for community ownership in Scotland and communities are purchasing a wide range of assets including shops, estates, forestry, harbours, community centres, business and retail space and land for housing – to name but a few.

Scottish Forestry has launched a new spatial data hub providing access to information helpful to foresters, land managers, developers, teachers, students, researchers and others. 

The Open Data hub offers 70 geospatial data sets and is downloadable for use in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

The Scottish Government has started early engagement on the development of Scotland's fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).

The National Planning Framework is a long term plan for development and investment across Scotland.

On 5 November 2019, the Scottish Government published its proposed phased work programme for reviewing permitted development rights.

It is accompanied with a Sustainability Appraisal, commissioned by Scottish Government, which sets out the likely significant environmental, social and economic effects of options for change.

An upcoming Scottish Rural Action conference will kick start a 'rural movement' to make rural Scotland's voice heard.

Representatives from rural Scotland's communities, businesses and organisations are invited to attend the free event taking place from 26 to 27 February at New Lanark Visitor Centre, the renowned world heritage site.

Results from two surveys carried out by the Scottish Land Commission last year are now available.

The Scottish Land Commission surveyed land owners and communities in order to establish a baseline understanding of the level of awareness and participation in engagement activities.

A new podcast dedicated to rural Scotland and it's various industries has launched today, Monday 13 January.

The OnFARM – Food, Agriculture and Rural Matters podcast has been launched by Scene & Herd PR and Marketing and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and a new dedicated website.

Scene & Herd PR and Marketing are working with industry experts, successful business owners and key organisations to increase public and inter-industry awareness of Scottish rural enterprise and its stories.

Are you a student interested in land reform? 

The Scottish Land Commission have launched a new national student award to encourage involvement in land reform and help with their work. 

Any student studying at a Scottish academic institution who undertakes a land reform related piece of research can apply for the national student award. 

Are you in a position to make environmental change at a landscape scale?

Soil Association Scotland and Scottish Land & Estates are looking for ambitious and forward-looking land managers to apply to their new Landscape Leadership programme, where you will develop the skills needed to make change happen.

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