A Glenkens group who bought part of a local forest has backed calls for the Scottish Government to act over rocketing land prices.
Carsphairn Community Woodland Ltd purchased 49 hectares at Muirdrochwood from Forestry and Land Scotland in October 2021.
But the acquisition comprised only a fraction of the 324 hectares envisaged in its business plan.
And instead of creating 12 jobs as hoped, the pared down buyout produced only two – hampering efforts to bring in new families and reopen the mothballed Carsphairn Primary School.
The outcome led convener David McMillan to criticise current market conditions as “an absolute scandal” with forestry land prices jumping 500 per cent, making it impossible for communities to compete.
Now national body Community Land Scotland has stepped in to demand action over an “out of control” land market which is making it “impossible” for communities to gain more land.
Welcoming the intervention, Mr McMillan said: “Carsphairn Community Woodland fully endorses everything that Community Land Scotland has said in relation to land reform.
“We, like other communities and land-based businesses in our area carrying out traditional land uses of forestry, agriculture and communities, cannot compete with the inflated prices paid by speculators and investors, partly driven by government incentives.”
The Scottish Government’s Land Reform Bill is due to be published soon but Community Land Scotland believes current proposals don’t go far enough.
CLS policy manager Dr Josh Doble, said: “Across Scotland as a whole the land market is out of control and local communities are unable to realise their ambitions.
“The bottom line is that community right to buy legislation isn’t working.
“Moreover, those that oppose it have found effective ways to get round these rules.”
According to CLS, figures show the number of successful community applications has fallen by nearly 70 per cent since 2018.
Meanwhile, it argues, speculation on the carbon markets and commercial forestry developments have helped feed a huge rise in land prices across Scotland, consistently pricing local communities out of the market.
Dr Doble added: “Scottish land is almost completely unregulated and investors are driving up prices as they use land as an inflationary hedge, for the tax breaks of commercial forestry or for potential carbon sequestration.
“There have been fantastic achievements in the last few decades where hundreds of communities have taken ownership of land and buildings and these have brought great benefits to multiple communities. The odds are still heavily stacked in favour of large private landowners or wealthy incoming investors, and the huge rise in land prices in many areas simply mean that community buyouts are impossible.
“The new Land Reform Bill has to be robust to address these failings in the market and the dysfunctional land reform legislation.”
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon said: “It is completely untrue to say that community purchases are grinding to a halt.
“On the contrary – since 2018 there have been 23 successful community right to buy applications, and over 250 Scottish Land Fund awards to community groups to purchase assets, totalling more than £35 million.
“This is disappointing from Community Land Scotland. We would prefer to continue our discourse with them about the pace and extent of land reform and land use change in a way that is respectful and is based on evidence rather than assertion.”
She added: “We are absolutely committed to involving communities in decision making around how we reform land ownership and use in rural Scotland.
“The Land Reform Bill is just one part of that action – on top of the Scottish Land Fund and existing community empowerment legislation.
“The bill aims to improve transparency of ownership, help ensure large scale holdings deliver in the public interest and empower communities by providing more opportunities to own land and have more say in how it is used.
“As set out in our programme for government, we are also committed to taking forward our distinctive market vision in Scotland to support and promote responsible investment that contributes to a just transition, community benefits and robust environmental outcomes.”
