A total of 11 schemes have secured £2.1m from the Scottish Land Fund, which will allow local groups to purchase land for community ownership.
The Scottish Government’s 2017 – 2018 draft budget includes £10m for the Land Fund and an additional £3.4m for other land reform measures, enabling the Scottish Government to implement the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, including establishing the Scottish Land Commission from 01 April this year.
Land Reform Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, said the funding is a milestone for local communities "who have worked hard to design and present successful business cases for the future of their land resources".
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"I am delighted that so many groups around Scotland now have the opportunity to control the land that matters to them and redevelop it as a more useful and sustainable resource," she said.
"I am especially keen to see that urban groups are beginning to take advantage of the changes to the Community Right to Buy legislation and in the Scottish Land Fund."
The successful grant recipients are:
• Blairmore Village Trust C.I.C, Argyll and Bute, £15,750
• Action Porty, Edinburgh, £647,500
• Copperworks Housing Association Ltd, Glasgow, £419,000
• The Garbh Allt Community Initiative, Highland, £273,025
• Ullapool Community Trust Ltd, Highland, £138,000
• Iona Village Hall Community Trust, Highland, £36,000
• Raasay Development Trust, Highland, £19,000
• Findhorn Village Conservation Company, Moray, £180,500
• Sanday Development Trust, Orkney, £160,818
• Douglas St Bride's Community Group, South Lanarkshire, £141,350
• Kilmaronock Community Trust, West Dunbartonshire, £98,000
(LM/MH)
