Historic handover of Harris crofting estates

The  West  Harris Trust will today become the first community group to buy out a Scottish Government owned crofting estate.

Environment Minister will tonight witness the ownership transfer of the Borve, Luskentyre and Scaristavore estates during an historic signing which will take place in the tiny village school at Seilebost on the scenic coast of west Harris.

The transfer of ownership of the 6,578 hectares of land making up the crofting estates is the first since the Transfer of Crofting Estates (Scotland) Act was introduced in 1997.

The trust plans to build affordable housing, help generate income by improving the tourism potential of the area, create jobs and develop small scale renewable projects.

Roseanna Cunningham, who tomorrow will address delegates at a crofting conference in Stornoway, said:

“This land transfer is the culmination of a great deal of hard work, determination and commitment on the part of the West Harris Trust.

“It is an exciting day for the community and a landmark day for the Scottish Government’s commitment to community ownership of land and empowerment.

“Community ownership plays a very important role in the empowerment of communities: it improves self reliance and offers opportunities for employment, skill development and economic success.

“I hope to return one day to witness the many benefits I envisage the Trust will deliver through this historic transfer.”

The transfer will take place at 19:15 hours at Seilebost Primary School, West Harris, HS3 3HP.

The estates comprise of Borve Estate which has 32 crofts and covers 3,011 hectares, Luskentyre Estate which has 10 crofts and covers 2,396 hectares, and Scaristavore Estate which has 10 crofts covering 1,171 hectares.

The Transfer of Crofting Estates Act relates specifically to the crofting estates owned by Scottish Ministers. It allows Ministers to dispose of their crofting estates and certain other property in the crofting counties, but only to approved crofting bodies.

The sale price of £59,000 was determined by independent valuation by the Valuation office Agency.

The West Harris Trust has received financial assistance from Highlands and Islands Enterprise Community Land Unit – £23,600, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – £15,000 and the BIG Lottery Fund – £10,000.

In addition Tighean Innse Gall has provided a £20,000 and the Scottish Government will cover the legal costs of the transfer.

Ministers have agreed to forgo their entitlement to a share in the uplift of value for new developments applying to the first five years after the sale for a range of proposals, in order to assist the community in their new venture. The proposals are:

• installation of revenue generating hydro electric schemes of limited capacity at Seilebost and Borve
• construction of a café/restaurant
• improvements to Scarista Golf Course
• additional access to the beach and/or the improvement of existing accesses
• construction of or the disposal to a third party to enable the construction of up to 10 affordable housing units
• installation of or improvement to cabling to improve broadband services
• provision of a site for touring caravans and camping
• sale of land for the development of electric, water, drainage or road improvement purposes to public authorities possessing compulsory purchase powers

The Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament on December 9, 2009. The Rural Affairs and Environment Committee are currently taking evidence on the general principles of the Bill and will be scrutinising the Bill between now and the summer recess.

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