Debate opens on land reform bill

[Tony Gosling]

Debate opens on land reform bill
 http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/paperboy.cfm?id=87572003

HAMISH MACDONELL AND ROSE PARFITT


THE Scottish Parliament took the first step yesterday in abolishing the
concept of trespass in Scotland, by giving the public almost unlimited
access to the countryside.

The land reform bill, which will complete its passage through the Scottish
Parliament later today, overturns centuries of land law in Scotland by
starting with a presumption that all land is open and accessible and only
small sections are restricted. This contrasts with the widely-held view that
landowners can prevent anybody from gaining access to their property.

But the passage of the controversial legislation quickly became embedded in
complicated arguments as to which land should be exempt from the bill and on
which, limited, occasions landowners could prevent people from being on
their land.

MSPs arriving for the start of the two-day debate were confronted with a
protest by 50 Highland river workers, who warned that their jobs would be
under threat.

The protesters were furious at the section of the bill which would give
crofting communities a right to buy the land they work on even if the
landowner does not want to sell.

Andrew Graham-Stewart, a spokesman for the Crofting Counties Fishing Rights
Group, said: "We've not been consulted. This has been pushed through on the
back of spite and prejudice.

"The end game is to remove large landowners from the Highlands and it's
quite clear that this piece of legislation is the first move by those with
that political agenda to achieve their aims."

Inside the chamber, the Tory MSP Bill Aitken warned that the bill
represented a legal minefield. He said: "In seeking to legislate in this
manner, the Executive will succeed in making lawyers rich, judges famous and
bringing the law of Scotland into ridicule."

But Allan Wilson, the deputy rural development minister, said it would
establish a "statutory right" of responsible access to the countryside and
would "give the public the confidence to go out and enjoy the countryside
and know what they can and can't do".

The Executive appeared to acknowledge that legal problems may follow from
such a complicated piece of legislation by proposing an amendment which
would give them the ability to make minor changes after it has been passed.

This is an extremely unusual step for the Executive to take because it would
allow the act to be changed after it has been given royal assent.

Mr Wilson said it was "realistic" to expect some initial difficulties once
the new laws came into effect, so ministers needed to be able to alter
detailed rules "quickly and efficiently", without having to wait for an
appropriate bill in which to include the changes.

"I suspect it will be some time before we can assess how effectively the
bill is delivering our objective of improving access, and whether any of the
concerns that have been expressed have any foundation," he said.

However, Margo MacDonald, convener of Holyrood's subordinate legislation
committee, warned that the amendment would give ministers too much power.
And Mr Aitken, the Conservatives' deputy justice spokesman, said he was
opposed to the move on the basis of "a profound democratic principle",
suggesting that Mr Wilson was seeking a "blank cheque from parliament".

However, Mr Wilson insisted the amendment would also place in the bill a
requirement for ministers seeking to alter the rules in future to consult
with interested groups and then seek parliamentary approval and it was
passed by the parliament.

Another Executive amendment, moved by the rural development minister, Ross
Finnie, sought to clarify which groups were entitled to take advantage of
the new access rights.

Originally those seeking access for commercial reasons, such as paparazzi
taking pictures of celebrities, would not have been covered by the access
guidelines because they would be seeking to make a profit. But under Mr
Finnie's amendment, which was passed, the paparazzi might still gain access
but will not be able to sell their pictures to anyone.

However, like every other contentious part of the bill, this will only be
tested and sorted out by the courts.

Today, the parliament will debate proposals to give communities the right to
buy land from landowners.



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