Land

The Scottish Rural Parliament want to hear what issues matter to you the most as they build their Manifesto for Rural Scotland.

Their Manifesto will be a statement of the collective ambitions and the actions that are needed to ensure these ambitions are realised for rural communities.

An amendment to the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was tabled in Parliament last week by Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment. The Independent Adviser on Tenant Farming, Andrew Thin, has now issued a discussion paper on conduct and standards for agents in order to facilitate debate across the industry about the issues raised in Parliament. Further information can be found on the website of the Scottish Government.

Dumfries & Galloway LEADER Project Officer (Temporary)

• Dumfries with a region-wide remit
• Salary: £20,535 - £22,056

Dumfries & Galloway LEADER is seeking a confident, out-going individual to support the local business sector in the development of projects which will ensure we maximise the benefit of this new tranche of funding for Dumfries & Galloway.

Successful candidates will bring knowledge of the business and enterprise sector and a keen understanding of the economic context in which rural businesses currently operate.

A revised Land Use Strategy has been published setting out policies and proposals for the next five years and beyond.

The 'Getting the best from our land' strategy sets out the importance of:

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on asset transfer under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 provides a right for community bodies to request the transfer of land and buildings belonging to public authorities. The Act sets out a framework for the asset transfer scheme and gives the Scottish Ministers powers to make regulations to fill in the detail of the procedures to be followed.

The new Scottish Land Fund will open on 1 April 2016, with £10 million available to help community-buyouts.

Land Reform Minister Dr Aileen McLeod announced the opening of the fund as the Scottish Government's Land Reform Bill reached its final stage of the parliamentary process.

The Minister urged communities to consider whether owning the land they live and work on could mean it could offer greater benefit for local people.

Dr McLeod said:

The new West Lothian LEADER programme will officially launch on 17 March at SRUC Oatridge College Campus.

The West Lothian LEADER programme will see £2.17 million invested in community-led local development in rural West Lothian.

Talented trainees were recognised at the recent Lantra Scotland's Land-based and Aquaculture Learner of the Year Awards ceremony.

These annual awards celebrate trainees, Modern Apprentices, students and pupils, teachers, tutors, training providers and schools involved in the rural sectors.

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced that more opportunities for the next generation of farmers are to be created using public land.

Mr Lochhead last year set up an expert group to maximise the use of publically owned land to help farmers of the future to start their careers.