LANDOWNERS have been warned not to take entrenched positions in the battle over land reform by the new Cabinet Secretary for Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham.

Facing the new Land Reform Act and under fire from land reform campaigners, such as newly elected Green MSP Andy Wightman, Scotland’s landowners were told yesterday by their own association they need to “embrace this new era of landownership”.

But at the spring conference of the landowners’ group Scottish Land and Estates (SLE), Cunningham also stated plainly that the Scottish Government believes too few people own too much land, and that is a problem.

“Land ownership has been and continues to be too concentrated, and I think some of the difficulties [over land use] have arisen from that,” she said during a question and answer session.

About 250 landowners gathered at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh for the conference.

Guest speaker Cunningham said: “Land reform is at the centre of this Government’s ambitions for a fairer and more prosperous Scotland.

“Land reform can make a real difference to local communities by supporting and revitalising local areas, and providing more opportunities for local people to have a say in decisions that affect them.”

She said she recognised the expertise of landowners in managing their land and their contribution to the economy, but warned that those who do not engage with local people could face strong opposition: “Communities adversely affected are the ones that will do community buyouts. That is to be accepted as being not just something that is understandable but is the right thing for those communities to begin to think about.

“If you have whole communities that feel they are effectively left out of decision-making about their futures it is hardly surprising that people begin to agitate for change.

“If we all accept that to start with instead of getting down too much into different trenches then we may actually be able to take this dialogue forward in a better way than it has sometimes been done in the past.”

David Johnstone, chairman of SLE, told the conference new legislation such as the Land Reform Act, which will make buyouts easier, was going to make a big difference to landowners, and he said they had been in the firing line during the debate.

He urged landowners to buy into change, saying: “Although many feel they have been portrayed as being opponents of change, we now need to embrace this new era of land ownership and do even more to demonstrate that we have listened to and understand arguments for change.

“We believe that now the dust has settled there is a very compelling case to be made for a rural concord, a fresh start in which government, community bodies and landowners work together.”

In the question and answer session he said he did not subscribe to the view that land ownership was too concentrated. The question, he said, was how the land was used.

But he did say it was vital that landowners and land-based businesses address the “perception that they were opposed to change”, adding: “There is a real appetite on the part of landowners to do this and we are wholeheartedly committed to greater transparency of ownership.

“The vast majority of landowners work hard to operate thriving local businesses that are often involved in delivering the very benefits local and national government are seeking to secure, such as environmental targets and economic stimulus.

“Our members are willing to play their part in delivering greater prosperity for all in rural Scotland and we believe a renewed spirit of co-operation is something we should all be trying to achieve.

“We have to demonstrate that we act in the interests of others and not just in the interests of ourselves.”