Some were supportive of the proposed 1000 hectare thresholdiWritten submissions of John Muir Trust, Centre for Local Economic Strategies, Scottish Environment LINK, Naomi Beingessner, others considered it too high,iWritten submissions of The Common Weal, Scottish Crofting Federation, Community Land Scotland, Peter Peacock others too low.iWritten submissions of MacRobert Trust, RH Gladstone and co Those who favoured a lower threshold often coalesced around 500 hectares.iWritten submissions of Scottish Crofting Federation, Borders Community Action, Jimmy Reid Foundation, Development Trusts Association Scotland CLS calculated that the 500 hectare threshold would likely impact 17 transactions a year and stated that this “cannot be regarded as being an excessive number”.Written submission of Community Land Scotland
However, there is a common view that basing this provision on the size of a landholding is a “blunt instrument” with any threshold being “arbitrary”.iWritten submissions including Scottish Land and Estates, Andy Wightman, Forest Policy Group, Strathbran Estate, Merkland Estate, Jill Robbie, Turcan Connell SLE state that this approach: “is trying to use scale to tackle the problem of concentration”.Written submission of Scottish Land and Estates Individual estates also highlighted that size was an “odd metric” as “appropriate sizes change by geography, local culture, opportunities and finances available.”Written submission of Strathbran Estate They highlighted that from the perspective of community interest there is a huge difference between 1000 hectares of “productive arable farm near towns and cities with good access” and 1000 hectares of “upland hill with very limited access”.Written submission of Merkland Estate
As set out previously, CLS proposed that the term “significant landholdings” should be used instead of “large landholdings” and the following criteria applied:
land of 500 hectares or more
land that comprises 25% of a permanently inhabited island
a “site of community significance” – land that a designated public body can agree is of significance to any applying community.Written submission of Community Land Scotland
This could bring some urban and peri-urban communities within the scope of the Bill.