The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) have issued a clear rejection of the Scottish Government’s plans for the crofting register in their evidence to the Parliamentary Committee for Rural Affairs and Environment on the Crofting Reform Bill.
Marina Dennis, convener of the SCF crofting reform working group said, “The plans put forward by the government for the crofting register are poorly conceived and are just wrong. There seems to be little understanding of what these proposals would mean in reality. As we have already stated, the proposal to use ‘trigger points’ to force croft registration is unworkable and even appears designed to be "adversarial" as the crofting lawyer Simon Fraser put it. It will cause crofters endless delay and expense. Crofting lawyers are recognised experts in these matters and two of the most respected of them, Simon Fraser and Sir Crispin Agnew, have deplored the government's 'trigger-point' plans and supported the SCF's ideas for the register to be based on a community mapping process. We have also questioned why croft tenants are being asked to map the land over which they hold an annual lease. What other tenants have to do that? But the evidence presented to the Parliamentary Committee by the Scottish Government shows they have paid little heed and are still way out of touch”.
