Trust proposes right to buy rethink for crofting

The National Trust for Scotland charity called for Ministers to consider scrapping the right to buy for crofts, to ensure the long-term survival of crofting in Scotland.

In an open letter to Environment Minister Michael Russell, the conservation charity said right to buy is the greatest threat to crofting’s survival. Instead, the Trust recommended introducing an ‘application to buy’ – an approach that would greatly reduce the number of crofts passing into private ownership and out of crofting.

The Trust’s proposal goes further than that made by the Crofting Inquiry Committee’s report which supported the continuation of the right to buy, but to give new local crofting boards the power to remove that, if they wished.

In their detailed letter that aims to influence the government’s response to the Shucksmith report, the National Trust for Scotland made a series of recommendations based on its careful consideration of the report and the charity’s first-hand experience. The charity owns six crofting estates including Balmacara, Torridon and Fair Isle, which support more than 200 registered crofts.

The Trust also asked Ministers to ensure that any legislation and guidance produced in response to the Shucksmith report was carefully drafted and detailed to help ensure effective regulation and governance by the new local crofting boards, to consider introducing a requirement for wider community consultation on decisions taken by the new boards and to ensure that local crofting plans and local development are integrated.

Iain Turnbull, property manager at Balmacara, is the Trust’s leading authority on crofting issues. He said:

“This is an exciting opportunity for Scotland to strengthen crofting and ensure it survives and thrives in the future. The Trust has made a significant contribution to the crofting debate and as a landowner with more than 200 crofts in our care, we felt our detailed insight into crofting could further help Ministers as they develop their response to the Shucksmith report, over the summer break.

“The Trust is strongly supportive of the Shucksmith report and its recommendations, which we believe offers much that is good for the future of crofting. Its action on right to buy, however, is not yet strong enough.

“We also believe that care must be taken to protect the funding available for crofting and that the legal loopholes that have thwarted the Crofting Commission’s attempts to regulate within this complex area of law must be closed. If we can address these issues, it puts Scottish crofting on a strong footing for the future.”

The National Trust for Scotland owns six crofting estates: Balmacara, Canna, Fair Isle, Iona, Kintail and Torridon, and one croft on Yell. These amount to nearly 200 registered crofts. The Trust is committed to the management of our crofting estates to protect, enhance, and promote Scotland’s crofting landscape and its associated cultural and natural heritage.