‘One of the purposes of the 2010 Crofting Reform Act was to address speculation in land’
A STRATHNAVER croft tenancy has gone up for sale only four months after being assigned to a new tenant. Selling agents Bell Ingram, of Inverness, are seeking offers in the region of £145,000 for the assignation of 127.7 acres of croft land at 10/11 Syre, which includes an agricultural shed and sheep fank.
The land at 10/11 Syre is owned by the Scottish government, although the Crofting Commission’s register of crofts reveals the current tenant to be a Jane Dickson, of Muirhead Farmhouse, Cromarty. According to commission records, she was assigned the tenancy on May 10 this year. The outgoing tenant, Stephen Jack, took on the tenancy in March 2008. Mrs Dickson is the third person to be assigned the croft over the past ten years.
The quiet appearance of “for sale” signs in the strath last month may not seem startling news. However, the rapid turnover of tenancy, and the price tag attached, beg serious questions. According to the Crofting Commission, two of the principal aims of the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 were to “place duties on tenant and owner-occupier crofters to live on, or near, their croft”, and to “address speculation on the value of croft land”.
This story is from the No 312, October 2017 edition of Am Bratach.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the No 312, October 2017 edition of Am Bratach.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Postie's Post
WHEN YOU consider that we really don’t have that many roads in the Highlands, the ones we do have seem to get a story from most people you talk to.
Council Gritters Fall Short In Assynt
‘I took to social media in the vain hope that somebody would notice’ — Cllr Currie
Bookends
“She Said He Said I Said: New Writing Scotland 35”, edited by Diana Hendry and Susie Maguire, Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2017. £9.95.
Graeme At Large
Graeme At Large
A 19th Century View Of 'Wild' Land
A 19th Century View Of 'Wild' Land
Geopark Means Business This Year
Securing long-term government support is a priority, says new chairman
Fraser Darling's View Of Highland Medical Care
The “West Highland Survey: an essay in human ecology”, edited by Frank Fraser Darling, was published by the Oxford University Press in 1955. Fraser Darling (1903-79) was an English ecologist, ornithologist, farmer, conservationist and author who between 1939 and 1943 brought derelict land into agricultural production on Tanera Mòr in the Summer Isles. In January 1944 he met Tom Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, who was aware of Fraser Darling’s published works which included a popular weekly column on agricultural science syndicated in several Highland newspapers. They agreed his plan for a social and biological investigation into the problems of the West Highlands and for establishing an agricultural advisory and demonstration centre in the crofting areas. In Fraser Darling’s own words, the West Highland Survey was established “in order to examine in a spirit of scientific inquiry, to gather a solid body of facts for analysis and synthesis, which would serve as a foundation for a future policy for the region”. He continued: “The argument was maintained that if the problem were understood in its wholeness, solution would be possible”. In June 1944, a team which included Frank Fraser Darling as director and four young Gaelic-speaking field officers, began work. The resulting 438-page book includes the following account of the Highlands and Islands Medical Service, launched in 1913 and forerunner of the Scottish National Health Service. After thirty years, the surveyors regarded the service as an unqualified success, an enviable situation underlined by the number of able medics seeking work in the post-war Highlands.
From Our Archives
Long service nurse to be honoured by community
The Postie's Post
IF YOU are a regular reader of my postie’s posts you will probably sigh when you realise that I am talking about roads again this month. But I do have an excuse and that is because the Highland Council aren’t really that good at managing them at times.
Bookends
George Gunn, “The Great Edge”, Grace Note Publications, 2017. £12.99.
