A CAMPAIGNER for the preservation of common good assets in Edinburgh and across Scotland has made an impassioned plea for Scotland’s local authorities to band together to agree their approach to registering Common Good.
Andy Wightman made his call before Edinburgh councillors yesterday, after pointing out that the council’s initial list of common good assets is missing the High Street, parts of the New Town and Leith Links.
The council was considering a report recommending the spending of £750,000 on a three-year project to register all its land and common good assets as required by the Scottish Government’s laws on community empowerment and land reform.
Wightman, recognised as the foremost expert on common good issues in Scotland, pointed out that the job could be done using volunteers and a partnership with further education establishments. Not surprisingly, members of the cash-strapped council agreed to look at his suggestion.
The council list did manage to include the City Chambers, the Scott Monument and Princes Street Gardens, but councillors queued up to join Wightman in pointing out assets that had been missed – with Costorphine Hill, Blackford Hill and Huntly House Museum among them.
Wightman went on to outline a major problem facing Scotland’s 32 local authorities, who must all compile registers of common good assets: there is no clear definition of what constitutes “common good”.
Wightman said that rather than wait for the Scottish Government to issue guidance, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities should agree a standard definition.
He added: “It would be unfortunate if the 32 local authorities all used different definitions.
“All 196 burghs across Scotland have common good assets, so it would be silly for Edinburgh to do one thing and Glasgow to do another.”
The Scottish Government announced in June last year that it wanted the land register for the whole country to be completed within 10 years, and five years for publicly owned land.
Wightman said: “That is a ridiculously ambitious target – politically inspired – and I do not think it is deliverable.”
The idea of using outside assistance rather than a team of council officers was backed by Councillor Gordon Munro.
Munro said: “I am excited that we could have a programme of citizen education that could inculcate a knowledge base that would stand the test of time and ensure that when we do complete this register it would be something that future generations of the city will be able to enjoy.”
Councillor Joanne Mowat said that the proposed team of officials, costing £750,000, was a “really expensive way to solve a big problem” but she said that Wightman’s proposals should be examined.
She added: “This could be a really exciting project and it might save us some money.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here