Part 1
The stated aims behind Part 1 are:
To further improve the transparency of land ownership and management;
To strengthen the rights of communities in rural areas by giving them greater involvement in decisions about the land on which they live and work;
To improve the sustainable development of communities by increasing opportunities for community bodies to purchase land when it comes up for sale;
To allow Scottish Ministers to consider (before a planned sale) if land being sold in lots could increase the supply of more varied plots of land in a way that might be expected to have a positive impact on the ongoing sustainability of communities in the area.iPolicy Memorandum, page 2
The key measures that would apply in relation to large landholdings are—
New obligations to produce Land Management Plans and to engage with local communities, to support compliance with the principles of the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement;
Community bodies to receive prior notification in certain cases that the owner intends to transfer a large landholding, or part of it, and provide an opportunity for them to purchase the land; and
Introduction of a "transfer test" at the point of certain transfers of large landholdings (or part of a large landholding) if the land to be transferred is over 1000...