Crofters living on an estate on the island of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, have six months to put together a proposal to the Scottish executive to buy 10.118ha (25,000 acres) of land owned by chartered accountant Barry Lomas.
They voted by a majority to make an application to buy the Pairc estate under the provisions of the Scottish Land Reform Act, which gives them privileges to right the wrongs their ancestors suffered in the Highland Clearances in the 19th century. The community can seek money from the Scottish Land Fund and the price will be set by a government-appointed valuer.
Magnus Linklater writes in The Times that a law that was supposed to reverse the injustices of the Clearances is having “electric” consequences. He says the cost of funding buyouts is bound to spiral.
References: Financial Times page 6 01/12/04, The Times page 20 01/12/04, Daily Telegraph page 11 01/12/04
