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| Scotland resurrects scheme to boost community ownership | Scotland resurrects scheme to boost community ownership |
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| A community land fund that helped residents buy their Hebridean islands, local forests, an elderly care home and a post office facing closure has been relaunched in an effort to expand co-operative ownership across rural Scotland. | A community land fund that helped residents buy their Hebridean islands, local forests, an elderly care home and a post office facing closure has been relaunched in an effort to expand co-operative ownership across rural Scotland. |
| The Scottish environment minister, Stewart Stevenson, has announced that £6m will be put into a new Scottish land fund, after his government agreed to reopen a programme first set up by the first Labour first minister of Scotland, Donald Dewar, more than a decade ago. | The Scottish environment minister, Stewart Stevenson, has announced that £6m will be put into a new Scottish land fund, after his government agreed to reopen a programme first set up by the first Labour first minister of Scotland, Donald Dewar, more than a decade ago. |
| The original programme, using lottery money through the new opportunities fund, spent nearly £14m in five years on 239 community buyouts ranging from a community forest in the Borders, a village shop on Uig in the Western Isles, to the purchase by its residents of the idyllic but then impoverished Hebridean island of Gigha off Argyll. | The original programme, using lottery money through the new opportunities fund, spent nearly £14m in five years on 239 community buyouts ranging from a community forest in the Borders, a village shop on Uig in the Western Isles, to the purchase by its residents of the idyllic but then impoverished Hebridean island of Gigha off Argyll. |
| The fund, which will spend about £2m a year using money from the Scottish government, will be run by the Big Lottery and Highlands and Islands enterprise. Bids for grants and funding opens on Monday, six years after the first programme ended. | The fund, which will spend about £2m a year using money from the Scottish government, will be run by the Big Lottery and Highlands and Islands enterprise. Bids for grants and funding opens on Monday, six years after the first programme ended. |
| The funding is likely to reinvigorate Scotland's land reform movement, where more than 500,000 acres of land is now in community ownership – an area larger than the estates and wildlife reserves owned by the National Trust for Scotland, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and John Muir Trust. | The funding is likely to reinvigorate Scotland's land reform movement, where more than 500,000 acres of land is now in community ownership – an area larger than the estates and wildlife reserves owned by the National Trust for Scotland, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and John Muir Trust. |
| In recent years, a range of community buyouts using lottery funds, government grants and private fund-raising has enabled residents to buy land such as the Hebridean island of Eigg, the crofting lands of Assynt in Sutherland and on North Harris. | In recent years, a range of community buyouts using lottery funds, government grants and private fund-raising has enabled residents to buy land such as the Hebridean island of Eigg, the crofting lands of Assynt in Sutherland and on North Harris. |
| Several other schemes have since helped fund community ownership projects, including the Big Lottery's £50m growing community assets programme, which has supported 127 buyouts, including eight land purchases totalling over £5m, and a community right-to-buy programme, which started in May 2005. | Several other schemes have since helped fund community ownership projects, including the Big Lottery's £50m growing community assets programme, which has supported 127 buyouts, including eight land purchases totalling over £5m, and a community right-to-buy programme, which started in May 2005. |
| Lukas Lehmann, the manager of the Island of Gigha Heritage trust that took control of the island in March 2002 with a £3.5m gift from the first Scottish land fund (including a £1m loan), said these programmes were extremely important for community ownership schemes. | Lukas Lehmann, the manager of the Island of Gigha Heritage trust that took control of the island in March 2002 with a £3.5m gift from the first Scottish land fund (including a £1m loan), said these programmes were extremely important for community ownership schemes. |
| "We wholeheartedly welcome this, and would say it's something which is long overdue," Lehmann said. "Community ownership has a lot of potential, but it just doesn't happen on its own. It's not a free or a cheap option; it needs to be properly supported in order to work." | "We wholeheartedly welcome this, and would say it's something which is long overdue," Lehmann said. "Community ownership has a lot of potential, but it just doesn't happen on its own. It's not a free or a cheap option; it needs to be properly supported in order to work." |
| Lehmann said that since Gigha was taken over, the trust was now being repopulated, becoming an economically vibrant place. Over the last 10 years, its population had risen from 98 to 160, while the school now had more pupils; young adults, who frequently leave as soon as they leave school, were now staying. | Lehmann said that since Gigha was taken over, the trust was now being repopulated, becoming an economically vibrant place. Over the last 10 years, its population had risen from 98 to 160, while the school now had more pupils; young adults, who frequently leave as soon as they leave school, were now staying. |
| Its housing stock had been overhauled. It was originally in a dire state, Lehmann said, with 75% graded "below tolerable standard" and 23% in a state of serious disrepair. A social landlord had also built 18 new homes. | Its housing stock had been overhauled. It was originally in a dire state, Lehmann said, with 75% graded "below tolerable standard" and 23% in a state of serious disrepair. A social landlord had also built 18 new homes. |
| "Like everybody else, the economic times aren't easy; certainly tourism has suffered, but there's a number of new businesses that have been developed – in the region of 12 or so, and we've also been able to improve the school roll." | "Like everybody else, the economic times aren't easy; certainly tourism has suffered, but there's a number of new businesses that have been developed – in the region of 12 or so, and we've also been able to improve the school roll." |
| Peter Holbrook, of Social Enterprise UK, said the Scottish experience had influenced community empowerment campaigners and ministers across the rest of the UK, informing the localism act being pushed through by the Westminster government. | Peter Holbrook, of Social Enterprise UK, said the Scottish experience had influenced community empowerment campaigners and ministers across the rest of the UK, informing the localism act being pushed through by the Westminster government. |
| "Scotland has been a trailblazer and we need to see more of these powers brought in in England and Wales; we have the Localism Act, which creates an environment where we will see similar things being implemented but Scotland has given us the evidence, the momentum to drive these things forward. Wherever we've seen this happen, communities have been revitalised," he said. | "Scotland has been a trailblazer and we need to see more of these powers brought in in England and Wales; we have the Localism Act, which creates an environment where we will see similar things being implemented but Scotland has given us the evidence, the momentum to drive these things forward. Wherever we've seen this happen, communities have been revitalised," he said. |
| • This article was amended on Friday 29 June. The Scottish environment minister is Stewart Stevenson, not Stephenson as we had it originally. | • This article was amended on Friday 29 June. The Scottish environment minister is Stewart Stevenson, not Stephenson as we had it originally. |
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