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Government accused of thwarting land sale


By Caroline McMorran

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The Scottish Government is under fire from a member of a Sutherland sheep stock club who claims it is being uncooperative over a land buy-out.

David Morrison, a shareholder with Keoldale Sheep Stock Club and its honorary business adviser, claims civil servants have been of little help in the club’s bid to purchase the government owned Keoldale Estate.

At issue is the soaring valuation of the land and the reluctance of officials to allow the club to purchase it on a deferred basis.

But a meeting last week with MSP Gail Ross, who said she was fully supportive of the idea, has given him some hope.

Mr Morrison said: “If the government fails to help, then they will be shown to be failing drastically in one of its much vaunted objectives – to give the land back to the people. This requires a political decision and we have to continue to demand one.”

The 27,500 acre Keoldale Estate was purchased by the British Government as part of its Land for Heroes policy following World War I.

The sheep stock club – set up in 1922 with 42 crofter shares – first considered buying the land it tenants in 2014 at which point the land was valued at £261,000.

Mr Morrison said a recent request for a fresh valuation had taken nine months to complete and he had been shocked to learn it stood at £626,000 – a 239 per cent increase in four years.

“That seems absolutely crazy,” he said.

The club is barred from accessing the Scottish Land Funds and a number of other grant schemes because it is a private enterprise and not owned by the wider community.

Mr Morrison said: “As it is almost impossible to obtain sufficient funds at economic rates for the buyout at the new price, we proposed that we acquire the property on a deferred purchase basis.

“But this has not been well received by civil servants as there is no precedent, although they admit it would not be illegal and could be done so we must continue to push them and the politicians to think more constructively.”

But Mr Morrison has “taken heart” from his meeting with Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross who suggested there was more than one interpretation of “community” and said she supported the buy-out “unequivocally”.

A buy-out would pave the way for the sheep stock club to consider money making ventures on the ground such as wind and hydro power.

Meantime the government has agreed to the club’s acquisition for £25,000 of an old steading complex on the estate and near Durness.

It is hoped to convert the complex into a visitor centre comprising a brewery, distillery, café and restaurant.

Mr Morrison said there were many hurdles to surmount before the scheme went ahead, but if it did it would be a “game changer” for Durness, creating employment in an economically fragile area which is experiencing a population drain.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are continuing to work positively to look at possible solutions that would allow the club to pursue its plans.

“Scottish Ministers and the club have enjoyed a good landlord tenant relationship since the club took up the tenancy in 1923. The valuation of the site was made independently and Ministers have offered to sell the club the steading site, with the option to buy the remaining estate at a later date, to allow the tourism plans to be developed further.”


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