Minister seeks reform of law over common land

Common land, and common good land held by local authorities, should come under scrutiny with a view to law reform, according to the Scottish Government's Land Reform Minister, Dr Aileen McLeod.

Dr McLeod today announced her intention to refer the issue of common land to the new Scottish Land Commission, when established under the Land Reform Bill now before the Scottish Parliament, and invite them to conduct a review as part of their programme of work.

This work reflects concern, shared by the Scottish Government, that there may be insufficient protection for common land in Scotland and that individuals could use existing legislation and procedures to claim common land against the wider interest.

Ministers intend that this review will also cover common good land.

Dr McLeod is also writing to the Scottish Law Commission to ask that they review the Division of Commonties Act 1695 with a view to its repeal under its programme of removing obsolete legislation from the statute book. She is asking the Commission to review the Act to ensure that there would be no unexpected consequences from its repeal.

The minister commented: “The Scottish Government is very keen that common land is protected and I will be informing Parliament today that once the new Scottish Land Commission is up and running the Government will refer the issue of common land to them to review.

“It is a sign of the need for our current land reform work that genuine concerns are raised about the need to protect common land. The Scottish Government shares these concerns, which is why we see this as a priority for the new Commission."