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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 12 March 2025
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Displaying 1986 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Okay. Sarah Madden—do you want to come in?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

David, do you have any brief comments?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

I have more detailed questions on land management plans that follow the evidence that we have had so far. However, your initial comments are very useful in setting the context.

The committee heard from the Scottish Land Commission that there is a need to include local place plans in land management plans, which means incorporating the built environment planning element into LMPs. Do you have a view on that?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Sandra Holmes, I will come back to you about specific recommendations that the Land Commission has made in relation to LMPs. One recommendation is that they need to refer to local place plans—where those exist, because not all communities have the capacity, the interest or maybe even the population to develop them.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Finlay, do you have any reflections on this issue?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

I was going to ask questions about lotting, and we have explored certain aspects of that, but I have a residual question in mind. We are dealing with hypotheticals here, because it is ultimately a ministerial decision, and ministers will look at viability and decide whether it makes sense to lot. It has been put to us in evidence that an outcome of lotting could be that Gresham House or another organisation might see lotted areas of land and say, “This is great—we will just buy these up for our shareholder,” and then, in effect, re-amalgamate land into a single consolidated holding for all intents and purposes. Is that a concern from the other side? Where there is a genuine case for lotting that is in the public interest—perhaps not in commercial forestry but in another setting—do you see the potential for organisations such as yours to, in effect, buy up and re-amalgamate forestry?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Do you see the interests of your clients, in particular those in commercial forestry, as being a version of the public interest? Do they clearly lie within the public interest?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

You would see the activities that are invested in commercial forestry as being clearly within the public interest. Is that right?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

It looks like Finlay Clark does not have any final reflections on that point, so I hand back to you, convener.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Good morning, everybody. One of the key provisions in the bill is around land management planning. It is fair to say that, although we have seen good community consultation between landowners and communities across Scotland in the past, we have also seen some bad consultation. From your perspectives, where do you think there has been, and what do you think constitutes, good practice in relation to involving and consulting communities on land management? I am not picking on you, David, but given that the John Muir Trust is a landowner, do you want to start?