The Scottish Land Reform Bill, which seeks to change the way land in Scotland is owned and managed, passed its first vote in Holyrood recently with cross party support.
Ahead of the debate on the bill, NFU Scotland has called for amendments to be made to the legislation across key areas, including land management, lotting provisions, and community land acquisition.
The NFU also wants to keep the land commission as an advisory, and not a regulatory, body.
Vice-president of NFU Scotland, Duncan Macalister said: “Our concerns highlight the potential unintended consequences for farmers and crofters of specific elements of the bill if left as they are.
“We are seeking and emphasising the need for balanced rights and responsibilities for all land users.”
The bill includes measures that will apply to large landholdings of over 1,000ha, prohibiting sales in certain cases until government ministers can consider the impact on the local community.
It could also lead to some landholdings being lotted into smaller parts if the government finds that doing so may help the local community.
The bill contains provisions for a new land and communities commissioner who will operate within the Scottish Land Commission.
The new commissioner would be responsible for the enforcement of the new community engagement requirements on landowners and providing reports on lotting decisions.
The Scottish Land Commission investigated the issues associated with the scale and concentration of land ownership in Scotland and found the core public interest was the concentration of power over local decision-making.
The findings show less than 1% of Scotland’s land being sold, with an average 93% of sales being for areas less than 500ha.
Large landholdings of over 1,000ha represent more than 50% of Scotland’s land.
The commission carried out research into international ownership models such as the French la Société d’Aménagement Foncier et d’Etablissement Rural (SAFER) system, which gets the first option to buy any rural farmland or building for sale in the French countryside.
The commission also recommended the introduction of prior notification of sales, so that local communities are aware of land coming to market.
The Land Reform Bill places legal responsibilities on owners of the very largest landholdings to show how they use their land, and how that use contributes to key public policy priorities, such as addressing climate change, and protecting and restoring nature.
These owners will also have to engage with the local community around their land use.
The bill includes a duty on ministers to publish a model of Land Management Tenancy, which the government says will support people to use and manage land in a more sustainable way.
It also includes a number of measures to reform tenant farming and small landholding legislation.
The government said this will provide more opportunities to improve land to become more sustainable and productive, and to ensure that tenants are fairly rewarded for their investment of time and resources in compensation at end of tenancy.
The Countryside Alliance said community engagement was important, but in its current form the bill needs reform.
“There is much work to do before a satisfactory resolution is reached,” the alliance stated.
