Scottish Government appoints new Scottish Land Fund committee

Land reform minister Dr Aileen McLeod has announced the appointment of seven members to the new Scottish Land Fund (SLF) committee.

The committee, to be chaired by John Watt, is made up of Calum Macleod, Lisa Tennant, David Green, Duncan MacPherson, Anne Lear and Janet Miles. The appointments will run until March 2017 on a part time basis.

The Scottish Government’s £10 million Scottish Land Fund, will support more communities, both urban and rural, to buy their land and other assets. The fund is being delivered by the Big Lottery Fund in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and opens for applications on April 1.

The previous Land Fund awarded £9m over three years to 52 communities throughout Scotland. Of the 500,000 acres of land already in community ownership, over 90,000 acres was purchased with help from the Land Fund, benefiting 71,000 people throughout the country.

Scottish Land & Estates, which represents land-based businesses across Scotland, has welcomed the new Committee.

David Johnstone, chairman of Scottish Land & Estates, said: “We support community land ownership as part of a diverse range of publicly and privately funded ownership models.

“Our members and staff are willing to assist with advice on land and property management that may be useful to prospective owners.”