SCOTLAND’s thousands of acres of derelict and vacant land – an area twice the size of Dundee – are set to be transformed in a partnership between two of the country’s leading land and environment bodies.
The Scottish Land Commission (SLC) and Sepa launched a taskforce in Edinburgh yesterday to develop new approaches to challenge how the issue is dealt with in a 10-year strategy.
Scottish Enterprise chief executive, Steve Dunlop, will chair the taskforce, which will bring together leaders from the public, private and social enterprise sectors. It aims to halve the amount of Scotland’s derelict land by 2025.
Land Reform Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said Scotland had far too much unused and unproductive land.
“The ‘unlocking’ of vacant and derelict land touches on a number of important strands of work, including planning and regeneration,” she said.
“It is also another key strand of our ambitious land reform agenda, which includes a recent commitment to continue our £10 million annual funding of the Scottish Land Fund, the creation of a register of controlling interests in land, and we’re exploring the expansion of existing Community Right to Buy mechanisms.”
Dunlop said: “In disadvantaged areas of Scotland it is estimated that three in every five people live within 500 metres of a vacant or derelict site. The taskforce will help drive practical action and look for innovative ways to make productive use of vacant and derelict land for housing, commercial and green space uses.”
SLC chief executive, Hamish Trench, said: “We want to identify what can be done with policy, legislation and action to release this land to benefit the communities living in and around it, making more of Scotland’s land do more for Scotland’s people.”
Terry A’Hearn, Sepa’s chief executive, added: “We are over-using the planet. But we are under-using some of our land.
“This Sustainable Growth Agreement with Scottish Land Commission is designed to fix this problem.”
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