This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Crofting Reform Bill
03/03/2006
The Crofting Reform Bill, launched today in Inverness, includes proposals to extend the rights of crofters to small holdings beyond the Highlands and Islands and give landowners the ability to create new crofts for the first time.
The Bill aims to dampen down speculation in croft land and enable crofting communities to buy renewable energy leases over land acquired under the Land Reform Act
Deputy Environment and Rural Development Minister Rhona Brankin said crofting was a unique way of life firmly rooted in the people and culture of the Highlands and Islands which had a vital role in developing a modern future for rural areas.
She said:
"We have listened carefully to the views of crofting communities across Scotland and their opinions are strongly reflected in the Bill which I am proud to be launching today.
"Our shared vision is to cultivate a modern crofting system which is firmly rooted in the rich history of this unique Scottish way of life.
"Crofting has supported and sustained rural communities for generations but in order to continue to do so the current system must be strengthened and expanded.
"These proposals create a new flexibility which will allow communities to decide how they want crofting to evolve in their townships and eliminate the bureaucracy that currently holds back their ambitions. I now look forward to letting the Parliament consider the Bill in a measured and thoughtful way."
There are just over 17,700 crofts in the former counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland with between 12,000 and 13,000 croft tenants. Including family members around 30,000 people live on crofts.
In addition to the measures creating new crofts the Bill provides that the Crofters Commission will become a fully-fledged NDPB with its own budget and staff. It will have a development role and the Commission will be responsible for setting strategic direction for crofting administration.