THE matters raised by Carol Charters (Letters, January 30) are of great importance regarding the future of Scotland and the type of country we will live in.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, and the fear of more control to come, has led large landowners to remove tenant farmers – who are not sufficiently protected by existing legislation – in what is effectively the new “clearances”.
The need to protect them and our agricultural land requires quick action and effective legislation, including to protect limited partnership tenants with leases of less than five years. Rules must be tightened to stop landowners benefiting from farm subsidies when tenants are evicted. Grants for tree planting should take account of the consequences, including the effect on tenant farmers and the loss of agricultural ground, and these factors should be required to be considered in a revision to planning legislation to make changes from agriculture to forestry an official “change of use”.
The Scottish Government must be seen to take effective action as a matter of urgency. Anything else will be seen as an abject failure to protect the vulnerable from large vested interests and to stop history repeating itself.
Jim Stamper
Rutherglen
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