A MAJOR survey has been launched by a Scottish actor to gather crucial views on land reform in Scotland.
The Big Land Question – which was launched at the weekend in Perth – is a year-long consultation project which will include opinion polls, expert round tables and citizen panels all aiming to delve into why just a few hundred people control half of Scotland’s private land.
Around 600 people attended the launch of the project at the Revive Coalition Conference where Scottish actor David Hayman kicked off the Scotland-wide online video survey he is fronting.
Organisers say the question at the core of the land reform debate is why just 433 individuals control half of Scotland’s private land. This “imbalance” they say has “far-reaching consequences” for local communities, wildlife and the environment.
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In his video introduction to the survey, Hayman says: “Ever since I made a documentary about the battle for Scotland’s countryside, I’ve been passionate about the way Scotland’s land is used, and sometimes abused.
“Land ownership inequality restricts opportunity for our people, and Scotland is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. That’s why when the REVIVE Coalition asked me to front the Big Land Question, I was more than up for it.”
The REVIVE Coalition comprises the League Against Cruel Sports, Common Weal, OneKind, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Raptor Persecution UK.
The need to change patterns of land ownership was highlighted by a 2019 review by Scotland’s Rural College, which stated that concentrated land ownership was causing “significant and long-term damage to the communities affected”, and that the economic benefits from scale of ownership tend to benefit the landowner rather than communities.
Polling carried out for the Revive Coalition and Community Land Scotland by the Diffley Partnership in May this year also showed a clear majority of Scots want land reform policies to go much further than the Land Reform Bill currently proposed by the Scottish Government.
Hayman co-hosted the one-day conference in Perth with broadcaster and campaigner Lesley Riddoch, and the panel of conference speakers included former MSP and land reform campaigner Andy Wightman and chair of the Scottish Land Commission Michael Russell.
Other politicians involved included Green MSP Ariane Burgess and SNP MSP Rhoda Grant, who both represent the Highlands and Islands.
The launch was welcomed by Rural Affairs and Land Reform Secretary, Mairi Gougeon who said: “I’m really grateful for this further contribution to the land reform debate and really looking forward to seeing the conclusion of this work.”
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Max Wiszniewski, campaign manager for the Revive Coalition, said: “That the ownership of so much of Scotland’s land is in the hands of so few people is shocking. The way land is used has consequences that determine whether Scotland’s rural economies and rural ecologies thrive or not.
“Currently, the concentrated ownership of Scotland’s land means that these choices are made by very few people, for the benefit of whom?
“We have designed the Big Land Question to create a platform for the voice of the many. We want to add richness, diversity and depth to the engagement that the Scottish Government and its agencies carry out, and we look forward to sharing the results of the project in due course.
“Having the questions asked by a real person, in this case David Hayman, adds a human touch to what can be quite a complex topic. “
To find out more about the Big Land Question and to take part in the video survey, click here.
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