Take part in Scottish Land Commission survey on community engagement

The Scottish Land Commission are carrying out a survey to look at how community engagement in decisions relating to land is currently undertaken in Scotland.

​They want to hear from anyone with control over the way land is used or managed, in both urban and rural Scotland.

Last year, the Scottish Government publishing Guidance on Engaging Communities in Decisions Relating to Land. Over the next couple of years the Scottish Land Commission will make an assessment of the effectiveness of this guidance, and set out any further steps to improve its impact.

The current survey will help them to establish a baseline against which progress can be measured, and to identify where further support needs to be developed by them or other organisations.The survey will help them to find out more about the current level and effectiveness of community engagement by those who own or manage land.

Helen Barton, Community Engagement Advisor at the Scottish Land Commission explains:

"We want to hear from anyone with control over the way land is used or managed in both urban and rural Scotland. The survey is relevant for all private and public sector owners of land and buildings, including individuals, companies, charities and trusts, non-governmental organisations and community owners. It is also relevant to tenants of any sort who have control over land.

"The information provided will not include any personal identifying information and we will collate and analyse the responses to see where there are trends by area and sector.

"It is important to get an idea of what community engagement is happening now to not only use as a baseline measure but also to see if there are any lessons we can learn from current practices."

In the survey, the Commission will also be looking to find out how many respondents are aware of the Scottish Government’s guidance as well as the Commission’s own Protocol for Community Engagement, which sets out general and specific expectations for owners and managers of land.

The survey will be open for responses until the end of May 2019 and can be found here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/GJI0O/  

Visit the Scottish Land Commission website for more information.