 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 6241, in the name of Marie Todd, on the Gareth Vault community initiative reaches funding target. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I urge members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request to speak buttons now. I call on Marie Todd to open the debate. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to lead the debate this evening on community land ownership. Scotland's land is one of our greatest assets. In an inclusive and progressive Scotland, it is only right that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from our assets. Scotland has one of the most unusual and concentrated patterns of private land ownership anywhere in Europe. At the last count, just 432 people own half of Scotland's private land. That means that vast amounts of power and wealth are currently held in the hands of a few individuals. I think that that needs to be changed. I want to see more of Scotland's land in the hands of more of Scotland's people. The question of who owns Scotland has been an area of contention for many years, and with so much land and so few hands, changes in the law such as the community right to buy were very welcome. There are good reasons for that beyond a drive for social justice. Community ownership of land can regenerate a place economically, socially, culturally and environmentally. Research by Community Land Scotland shows that communities that buy their own land reap a number of benefits, including the reversal of depopulation, the creation of jobs and the ability to make money that can be invested back into the community. In addition, people living on community owned land report that they feel more in charge of local decision making, more connected with the local area and more empowered. Today, some 560,000 acres of land is in community ownership, and there is a Scottish Government target for that to reach a million acres by 2020. Without legislation, which has given new powers to communities to purchase land for development, we simply would not be where we are today. The SNP established the Scottish land fund, which has 10 million per year available to support community purchases and has a healthy pipeline of interests from communities across Scotland seeking to buy land. Thanks to groundbreaking land reform legislation in Scotland, just under 500 community groups in Scotland now own over half a million acres of land and are able to control their own destiny. In the Highlands and Islands, land reform empowered the strontian community to buy their local primary school, and on the Isle of Skye, where the tourist industry is booming, projects such as the Ferry Pools car park renovation have received a funding boost from the Scottish land fund towards their plans to develop the area and help cater to the very welcome-increasing tourist numbers. Land ownership is vital to projects such as those. The community land ownership movement has its modern origins in the Highlands and Islands, but it has much wider relevance since the Scottish land fund has been extended to enable urban communities to buy community assets. I want to focus particularly on the Garvald community initiative, but I hope that others in the debate will highlight the multitude of community buyouts around Scotland. Kate Forbes Just on that point, does the member agree with me that rethinking land ownership is directly linked to repopulating the Highlands, as we have seen on the Isle of Skye, one of the first community buyouts that has seen its population go over the 100 mark for the first time in decades? Marie Todd Absolutely. The Isle of Skye has been an inspiration to all the subsequent community land buyouts of just what can be achieved when you have control of the land. As the motion states, Garvald achieved its funding target for a community buyout of the Sutherlandy state land at Port Gower, Gartymor, West Helmsdale and Marill, as well as a bit of the hill land. The Helmsdale and District Development Trust helped to co-ordinate the buyout process and secured funding from both the Scottish land fund and the Beatrice partnership fund. I think that it is particularly satisfying that they would be able to harness their land asset with money that came from harnessing their renewable energy asset. As I have said before in the chamber, harnessing the renewable energy potential that we have in the highlands island will be transformative. Before they received the funding, village residents in East Sutherland overwhelmingly backed the plan to take ownership of the surrounding land. 73 per cent turned out for the election and 96 per cent responded in favour of the buyout. That was obviously a very positive result and provided the evidence of local support, which was absolutely crucial for the progress of the buyout. The new development officer for the post is the first new job that has been created in the area south of Sutherland for over 60 years. The estate has more than 20 sites of historical interest. Securing the estate's future will allow for the development of business opportunities and create a stream of income into the community. What the new owners are really excited by is the opportunity to invest in the land and to make the area an even better place to live. They want to look at the land management and to show it care and attention. Good stewardship is at their core and they want to improve it and pass it on. The most exciting possibility is further job creation, reversing the depopulation and making something of the assets. They are really proud of their Jurassic coastline there and they are keen to show off to the world with sustainable tourism. The buyout just outside of Helmsdale is of particular historical significance, given the wider areas' history of violent evictions during the Highland clearances. Helmsdale is a village that only came into existence when the people were cleared from the strath. It is, of course, the site of the emigrant's statue commemorating the clearances and the ensuing global Scottish diaspora, the brainchild of gold mining entrepreneur Dennis MacLeod, a direct descendant of those who were cleared, like many of the people who are involved in this initiative, not least his cousin Anne Fraser, who is the chair. However, that really isn't about reversing the Highland clearances. That was different land and a different time. It really is about the opportunities that land ownership brings to a community nowadays. It is refreshing to note the active co-operation of the current Sutherland family in the purchase of this land. The legacy of the clearances still affects this area profoundly and there is a sense of something being put right here. Land owners actively co-operating with communities in the transfer of assets into community ownership is something to be commended and encouraged. Looking forward, while the Helmsdale buyout is relatively small, hopefully that will eventually lead on to a gradual transition of power with the Highland's benefiting from wider repopulation and greater economic gains as a result of land ownership and development. There are many exciting changes happening in the way that land is owned and used in Scotland. I, for one, look forward to a bright future in which all of our communities, rural and urban, can harness their assets and flourish. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I refer members to my register of interests in relation to farming business of J. Halcro Johnston and Sons. I congratulate Marie Todd on securing this debate and giving the chamber an opportunity to consider some of the practical elements of community ownership in the Highlands and Islands. The beauty of the Strathkeldon and the wider east coast of Sutherland is well known, but in many cases the challenges to build and maintain sustainable communities are often overlooked. Within the 3,000 acres of land that are subject to the buyout, there are markers of deprivation and much to do to exploit the existing resources available to the community. Obviously, Marie Todd touched on one of them in terms of renewables. The members of the community initiative expressed their support for development and to attract new residents back to the area. It is positive to have the passion of those local residents as a driver to improve their area. It is also important across Scotland that communities and landowners can work together to ensure the sustainability and improve the land where they live. In this case, the community buyout process has been the result of the collaboration of both parties and to their mutual benefit. In addition to its other schemes of funding, the community initiative notably secured support from the Scottish Land Fund, so I would like to briefly touch on that. The Scottish Conservative rural manifesto published last year made the proposals to open up the land fund to support long lease funding for communities. In some occasions, long leases may be the preferred option for both communities and landowners, and I see no reason why we should not provide parity of support where that is what they seek. I would also like to pay tribute to those organisations that have progressed the buyout process to where it is today. The Garvelt community initiative has been engaging with the local development trust and Highlands and Islands Enterprise in recent years to plan the project and to apply for funding for the venture. I congratulate the project's directors and team, which has clearly been a considerable undertaking. It is important that the buyout is not the end of the support that is offered to communities like those. In many ways, purchasing the land will be the start of the process rather than the end of one, the beginning of the process to develop, to expand and to make better use of the land. If we wish to see the project as a success and the community as sustainable, we need to continue to offer not only our support but our commitment not to put up unnecessary barriers to that development. The project will continue to face familiar challenges that we see across many rural areas in the Highlands and Islands. The issues will be well-known to ministers, quality of transport connections, enduring question of broadband and mobile connectivity, support for farming and other rural businesses. We cannot consider those in isolation, and it is clear that, in many ways, the support offered to the rural community has fallen short in the past. The challenge that it poses to the Scottish Government is obvious. If we wish to see communities like this thrive, then it must be serious in addressing the wider issues of rural Scotland, particularly those in the Highlands and Islands. If we continue to see those challenges neglected, then the cost will be considerable and seen across the country from the tip of Sutherland to the banks of the Solway. I extend my good wishes to the Garfalt community initiative, welcome their commitment to improving the local area in a way that is sustainable and is clearly gained in exceptional level support in the community. However, let us not forget that this is only the first step in a far wider process of building and supporting the communities in our region that can prosper for generations to come. I extend my congratulations to the Garfalt community initiative for reaching its funding target. Transferring 3,000 acres of land in Sutherland to the community is quite an incredible feat, and I look forward to hearing all the good progress that the community will continue to make into the future. I also want to thank Marie Todd for bringing this topic of community buy-outs and the benefits of the Scottish land fund to the chamber this evening. Back in February, when the Garfalt community initiative received their grant from the Scottish land fund, a community buy-out group in my constituency of Edinburgh Eastern, Action Porty, received a grant. They received £647,000 from the Scottish land fund, an award that Action Porty received and that enabled them to purchase the Portobello old parish church on Bellefield Street. That made history as the first urban right to buy purchase in Scotland. It also allows me the opportunity to add an urban perspective to the debate. For those who are unfamiliar with the property, it has been a landmark in the Portobello landscape for over 200 years. During this time, as a working church, it has served as a place for the community to come together and celebrate. When the church closed, the Action Porty team, through their Save Bellefield campaign, organised and made sure that this precious community space would be saved for the future. Portobello is not exactly home at the moment to many spaces where community groups are able to meet, so the preservation of Bellefield and the space that it allows will be a key factor in maintaining the vibrancy of the Portobello area. The project had and continues to have strong buy-in from those in the community in Portobello. A community ballot to initiate the project received 98.7 per cent yes vote approving the community buy-out and a recent crowd funder that just closed this week or last week raised £20,000 towards preparing the space for its opening next year. The buy-out has been completely successful and the Action Porty received the keys to the property just recently on 6 September. It is very exciting. The strong community support of projects like Bellefield and Garvalt, which received 96 per cent backing in its ballot, as was mentioned by Marie Todd earlier, are the essence of why community buy-outs such as those and the Scottish land fund exist to empower communities to take control of land and spaces that are important to them, to redevelop them in a way that will be sustainable and in the best interests of the people who live there. For Bellefield, that will mean a community space for all. Action Porty's vision is to create a fresh and lively space that will be accessible for everyone and for use of those of all ages and abilities, from providing a venue for the arts and entertainment to creating a community garden, an after-school programme for children and classes for the elderly. Bellefield will build on the legacy of the old parish church and create new and sustained opportunities for the people of Portobello. That sort of space where the people in a community can celebrate creativity, history and their future is much needed in Portobello. Across Scotland, there are many other communities that have their own unique needs, which can be realised through the purchase and redevelopment of land in this way. Garvalt and Save Bellefield have paved the way for other right-to-buy initiatives to move forward. Ash Denham has rightly made the Action Porty project as an inspiration across the capital city, including inspiring constituents of mine, the Inspire East End project, which is campaigning to save the former London road charts not too far from here and to turn it into a community facility. Ash Denham? I thank the member for that intervention and I think that he is quite right, so I was just going to come on to say that Action, Save Bellefield, Action Porty and Garvalt are an inspiration to other groups across the whole of Scotland and the future of land ownership and development as well, and a model of what other communities, both large and small, both rural and urban, can accomplish. David Stewart is followed by Stuart Stevenson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I congratulate as well Marie Todd on securing this evening's debate, and I also compliment her on a very fine speech. Congratulations for that. I apologise to you that I may have to leave early in the debate as of another event, so I apologise not staying for the whole debate. Presiding Officer, as a Highlander, I have had an interest in the land reform debate since I was old enough to hold up my first copy of the West Highland Free Press, and history, of course, provides a rich tapestry of experiences—the hiring clearances, the battle of the braze and the hard-en-land league. Perhaps lesser known are the seven men of Noidart, who defied Nazi sympathiser and landlord Lord Brockett to settle the land. Around 550,000 acres of Scotland are now owned and managed by local communities, but, as significant as that is, it represents only a tiny fraction of Scotland's land. There is, of course, much more scope to push further forward with the agenda of community ownership. Doing that will help to bring the benefits that we are seeing in Garapault and elsewhere to many more communities. Presiding Officer, in the book Who Owns Scotland, John McEwen demonstrated just how few people own the vast bulk of our land. Since it was published in the 1970s, some things have changed for the better, but not enough has. The land ownership pattern remains essentially the same, and that simply cannot be right. As we look forward, we cannot imagine a future Scotland where that continues. As, Presiding Officer, a great admirer of David Cameron—no, no, not that one—but the one who was the former chairman of Community Land Scotland, I remember a speech of his where he called land reform and finished business that is fundamental to greater social justice in Scotland. He said, and I quote, is it possible for Scotland to conceive of a future Scotland that does not explicitly have greater social justice at its heart? I think not. That is not about fighting battles of the past. Land reform is a cause of the present and the future. Land change is under the feet of people for some odd reasons. In the same speech, David Cameron highlighted an advert for the Gledfield estate in Sutherland, which appeared in the property section of the press and journal some years ago. I quote, Presiding Officer, that the estate will appeal to the international super rich. The asking price of its exceptional property offers over £8 million, but for that, you get a traditional highland estate with more than 6,000 acres of sporting ground, 2,000 acres of commercial forestry and a spectacular sporting lodge. I cannot see many local people having the money immediately to hand that is needed to put in an offer, so I celebrate the Garpalt community and the work that it has done in achieving its funding target for the buy-out through the help of the Scottish land fund and, as we have heard from the Beatrice partnership fund, we need to push on with land reform and build on the work of previous land reform legislation. The community is on the verge of buying out the Sutherland estate, marks a new phase in highland history, with the land soon to be reclaimed by the descendants of those who were evicted during the Cleonises. From the descendants of the man blamed for starting the Cleonises in the first place. Influencedly, as we know, the Duke of Sutherland began the process of Cleonairan 200 years ago, and the communities have been living in the shadow of the decision ever since. 15,000 inhabitants were forced to remove from the land and their homes. Their homes were then burnt to prevent them from moving back in, and the physical and emotional scars of those actions will remain. With the communities repossessing the land, I hope that that leads to a new sense of belonging. The land is the community's blood, and it can finally come home. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Marie Todd for giving voice to this very important issue. Members may have noted that I have been relatively silent for the past three weeks as I have been suffering from laryngitis. Marie Todd has arranged for me to be temporarily given back my voice to speak in this debate this evening. Let's hope that it lasts for my part for four minutes. The history of the area of which we speak is continuing to be ripped. On the hill, those of us who have been there will see in the distance the statue of the Duke of Sutherland. There are those who would wish to take down that statue, and there have been many unofficial attempts to do so. I would leave it there as a constant reminder to the inequities of the past. However, the immigrants memorial that Dennis McLeod was one of the moving spirits behind that now stands adjacent to the A9 at Helmsdale is one of the most moving, poignant and relevant memorials that there is in Scotland. The mother and father walking out of the glen and the child holding mother's hand, looking back, never to see the glen again. It is quite one of the most moving memorials that there is in Scotland. It speaks to what has happened in an area like that around Helmsdale. For my personal part, we spent more than a decade as a family holidaying at Achmelwych, just north of Loch Inver, on the west coast of Sutherland. There, of course, we had the blight of ownership by the Vesti family. Not only did they own and control vast swathes of Sutherland and bits of Caithness, and I think in the Rothshire as well, but they also paid not a penny in tax to the exchequer in the UK, retaining their Argentinian domicile as a way of avoiding making proper contribution ffiscally, just as they were inhibiting the operation of the community in the area that they owned and controlled. The time for that model of land ownership is past. The Labour Liberal Administration, which we previously had in that place, took the first excellent, widely welcomed steps to ensure that land ownership was placed on a more formal basis and available to people. Previous buy-outs, of course, had been much more difficult to achieve, and we know much of the history of that. I am delighted that the motion refers to the Countess of Sutherland. I am delighted that the family has moved to a different attitude to working with the community than that that preceded in centuries before. That is a very important move for the people in the area of Helmsdale, but it is an important example of the benefits that can accrue that will start to undo the injustices that came from a pattern of land ownership that did not come because the land owners put out money to buy land. It was seized and used as private fiefdoms. That is no longer the pattern of land ownership that we should accept in the 21st century. I very much congratulate the people in the area around Helmsdale for the effort that they have made in raising the money, and I wish them every success in their future management. The challenge of raising the money was substantial. The long-term challenge of sustaining the area might be even greater, I wish them well. Tom Mason, to be followed by the minister. First of all, I congratulate Marie Todd for bringing the motion to this debating chamber. The area of Helmsdale is one that I know quite well. As you can see from my register of interests, I am a treasurer of the Highlands and Murray Sailing Association, so I get into the area quite often. It is not enough, in fact. Many times I have gone out there to see the progress of the Bearchersfield as it has come to development over the years. The Gavialta community initiative is a shining example of the civic Scotland, people working together to build towards a better future for their local area. I am reminded of the community power station in Tilly Drone in Aberdeen, which is likewise being funded by the local community. I believe that this project can and should support the project. I also feel that, instead of reflecting on the events of the 19th century for an English money debate, I have to keep my head down a bit. Our time is better spent discussing the future of the project and the next steps that we should take to strengthen the rural communities. This buy-out has only been possible because the work of a dedicated group of volunteers and I am delighted to pay tribute to them today for its very hard work and continuous and the job has only just started. I also thank both the big lottery fund and the SSE's Beatrice partnership fund, which have provided the capital investment needed to get the project off the count. I am sure that many other funding that I have managed to identify. We should also recognise the southern estate for seeing the tangible benefits for this venture and will bring it to the local community by agreeing to sell the land, which is a totally different project than what it came back on. We should be mindful, though, of the difficulties of this area that it is currently facing. It is defined as a socially deprived and fragile area, which has a great deal still to be done in creating a thriving local community. However, this is a place with huge potential for development and prosperity. 3,000 acres, I believe, of crofting land can be put to good use, driving growth and opportunity for the townships of Marill, West Hemsdale, Gartymawr and Port Gower. Sustainable economic development is vital. We must be consistent in giving any support necessary to help the area to progress further in the future. Unfortunately, Presiding Officer, this is only one example among many where the royal community has not been given the opportunity that it deserves. Royal areas across Scotland feel left behind as advances in technology and processes move jobs away from the countryside rather than towards it. We are on these benches on this side, are acutely aware of the problem and will continue working constructively to find solutions. We would support moves to promote more balanced land ownership and we encourage both community buyouts like this as well as long-term leases in order to support both communities and land owners. However, that should not be treated as a single issue between schools, GP access, transport, connectivity and much more. There are so many ways in which our approach to royal areas should be much stronger. We need to empower these communities and that means extending to them nothing short of public services that we would expect and demand in Glasgow, Edinburgh or even Aberdeen. Presiding Officer, this is an exciting time for the local community as they work towards developing their area for the future. We should always seek to recognise the spirit of endeavour and enterprise and people striving to improve the lives of their fellow citizens. With that in mind, I welcome the Gardening Old Community initiative and I wish them the very best of success in their efforts. Thank you. Thank you. I call the cabinet secretary to conclude the debate. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I am not going to play in the right way, so I will turn it around if you do not mind. Congratulations to Marie Todd for bringing this debate to Parliament, but particularly congratulations to the Garvault community initiative for reaching their funding target. I am sure that they have listened to the congratulations that have been coming from around the chamber. In particular, can I commend the approach from Sutherland Estates? Once upon a time, that would not be a phrase that I could ever imagine to have uttering, but here we are, with the offer to sell 3,000 acres to the local community. It was a welcome offer and an example that I would like to see a great deal more of. I should say at the outset that I cannot comment on current live applications, one in particular was mentioned by Ben Macpherson, although I know that there are many other applications pending that have not been raised this evening. Land reforms are of particular importance to this Government, but also to me personally, I spoke at the very first land commission conference on Friday just there. I will say again what I said to them that I am absolutely passionate about land reform. I was elected to the House of Commons in 1995 and I remember speaking about land reform to a largely bemused chamber. Dave Stewart will remember that experience because he too will have been through it. The land, however—I think that a lot of people perhaps outside Scotland do not actually understand that—is our most basic natural asset and its benefits should be shared by all the people of Scotland. It is fundamental to so many things, including housing, employment and recreation, and, of course, to agriculture and other industries. Most important, it is an integral part of our national identity and prosperity. Stuart Stevenson reminded us of how emotional an issue it can still be. Scotland has made significant progress in land reform in the 20 years since devolution. We now need to drive forward that sustained progress. That really can only be done if we work collaboratively. It is not even a Highlands and Islands phenomena anymore, as Ash Denham so ably spoke to. I was pleased to visit Bellfield Parish Church when they registered their right to buy. They are now the owners, so I hope that members will remember that when they are talking about land reform in other venues in the future. Jimmy Halcro Johnston talked about partnership. That is exactly the reason why the Land Rights and Responsibilities statement was published on Friday. I hope that you will find the time to go and have a look at that. It is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It is about that partnership. It is about owners everywhere understanding that they have rights, including community landowners, but even community landowners have responsibilities, and the responsibilities are to the communities that share the land with them. So far this year alone, funding has been approved for more than 40 groups and there is still more to come. As Marie Todd said, more than 200 groups have been referred to the Land Fund for Assistance, and our partners in HIE and the Big Lottery are actively supporting those groups in this pipeline through the process. Of those 200 groups, around half are from outwith the Highlands and Islands area, and I hope that that reinforces the point that I was making earlier. That shows that there is a drive and enthusiasm for community ownership across Scotland. We have stepped up to the plate with financial assistance to help communities to achieve those aspirations, but the aspiration is ownership and so it should be. The land fund is particularly important, which is often a key factor in the purchase, but funding comes from other sources, too. For example, HIE, the Renewable Energy Fund, such as the Beatrice Partnership Fund and Big Lottery, which are often critical to getting those projects off the ground. I am delighted that the increased budget of £10 million that we have allocated to the land fund is being used by projects such as this one and that it is available to help local communities across the country. It has also been adapted to mirror the legislative changes that have been brought in through the community empowerment and land reform acts in recent years. Community groups are now able to access funding through stage 1 applications to the fund to help to put together business plans, feasibility studies and other work that will help groups to better prepare themselves to take on land and buildings. That is precisely the kind of capacity building that I hope Jamie Halcro Johnston would welcome as being a fundamental important part of communities being successful in their buyout. In fact, the project that we are congratulating in this chamber today benefited from £23,000 in the first place to do just that, and the results are plain for all to see. All of that work together will help to ensure that Scotland's land reform journey is heading in the right direction and that it continues well into the future. With support from the Scottish Government and others, local communities can be part of this journey, helping to drive it forward rather than being merely passengers. The range of projects that communities are capable of is staggering at times, from crofting estates like Garvault in the north to community woodland in Moffat, from a former school in Carlaway in the western isles to a gospel hall in gardens in Aberdeen, communities across Scotland, both urban and rural, are taking the initiative. As members will know, the latest programme for government contains a number of commitments on land reform, including asking the land commission to explore a number of options for further radical land reform and to provide guidance and codes of practice to drive change on the ground. Just like the commission, we want to drive increased economic, social and cultural value from our land. We want to encourage a more diverse pattern of land ownership, with the benefits of land spread much more inclusively. We want to ensure that decision making takes account of those affected and that all owners of land accept that ownership brings responsibilities. Examples such as the ones that I have mentioned show that there is a desire out there for community ownership. There is a determination among communities across Scotland to take more control over their own futures. This Government is determined to support those communities in any way that it can, ensuring that ownership of assets leads to a brighter, more sustainable future for local communities. Community groups such as Garvault can be used as an example to others to show just what benefits can be realised with ownership of assets, and I congratulate them wholeheartedly for doing so. That concludes our debate. I thank all members for their contributions, and I now close this meeting.