‘Local’ wind farms owned by firms based abroad
Some of Scotland’s biggest ‘local’ wind farms are owned as far afield as the Cayman Islands and Canada.
https://theferret.scot/local-wind-farms-owned-by-firms-based-abroad/
‘Local’ wind farms owned by firms based abroad
Some of Scotland’s biggest ‘local’ wind farms are owned as far afield as the Cayman Islands and Canada.
https://theferret.scot/local-wind-farms-owned-by-firms-based-abroad/
@therightarticle Aye? And? So is the land they stand on. This isn't a revelation.
@therightarticle and do what? Who would we vote for if our aim was to get it changed?
@CloudyMrs Agree but no harm in reminding people. More need to wake up to it. #pitchforks
@CloudyMrs @therightarticle We could (and maybe should) start our own rural left, #LandReform party. Yes, we would probably never win a majority – rural folk are a minority in Scotland anyway – but in a proportional system it isn't necessary to win a majority to get some of your policies implemented.
1. No registration of land offshore;
2. Higher taxation for larger landholdings;
3. Extended community right to buy;
4. #BasicIncome replaces farm subsidies.
@simon_brooke @therightarticle
I doubt we'd be able to agree the detail.
1. No registration of land offshore; What's the policy on existing registrations? We don't even know who owns half the country right now.
2. Higher taxation for larger landholdings; agreed, but what's the cut-off size? They'd just split their holdings.
3. Extended community right to buy; Still fills the wrong pockets.
4. #BasicIncome replaces farm subsidies. I'd make subsidies dependent on providing decent access.
@CloudyMrs @therightarticle The Land Registration etc (Scotland) Act 2012 places no limits on what entities can own land in Scotland, save that they be a 'Person' as understood in Scots law.
contd...
@simon_brooke @therightarticle I agree. There should be limits on who can own Scotland. That doesn't sort things retrospectively, though.
@simon_brooke @therightarticle how though. They have very deep pockets and lots of legal advice. That's what's stopping current legislation on access from working as it should.
@CloudyMrs @therightarticle On the second point, there shouldn't be any 'cut-off' because, as you say, people would try to sneak around it; just a single continuous function.
cont'd...
https://www.journeyman.cc/blog/posts-output/2014-12-09-me-and-you-and-the-duke-of-buccleuch/
@CloudyMrs @therightarticle that includes offshore companies, including companies registered in secrecy jurisdictions, but if such companies own land they're *supposed to* tell Companies House who owns them.
contd...
https://theferret.scot/hundreds-foreign-property-owners-stay-secret-rules/
@simon_brooke @therightarticle there's a middle ground, though. We currently pay landowners subsidies from general taxation to allow them to carry out "improvements" to their property, that reduce tax payer access across "their" land. I'm not just talking about the right of access. I'm talking about creation and maintenance of useable and accessible routes. Landowners currently prevent communities from creating such routes, and we pay them to stop us.
@CloudyMrs @therightarticle on the fourth point, decent access should be a legal requirement, and if it's not provided the land should automatically be transferred to community ownership.
Don't bribe people to allow you something you should have a right to, because the rich are rich enough to ignore bribes.
@Wen @simon_brooke @therightarticle it's not going to be The SNP either. Remember Kate Forbes' reaction to being offered Rural Affairs? Remember the general consensus that her being offered Rural Affairs was an insult. I have no idea who took the job because they don't seem to have said or done anything since taking it.
@simon_brooke @CloudyMrs @therightarticle Rural workers who depend on the land are always a minority. At the same time there are a substantial number who live and work around that land.
Farmers, many of whom supported Brexit are mightily displeased now - it’s not going to be Labour or the Conservatives who fix that. The former are only going for votes, the latter for landowners- who are a real minority even in Scotland.
@strathearnrose @Wen @simon_brooke @therightarticle I'm more interested in the reaction to the job offer than any of the personalities. What specifically has Mhairi been working hard on? What are her priorities?
@Wen @CloudyMrs @simon_brooke @therightarticle Mairi G has been working very hard & does not go round arbitrarily picking fights with people and/or groups. The media are only interested in high profile rammys which is a shame but it means less coverage for a policy area that they’re not that interested in in the first place. Remember - she followed Fergus……..
@Wen @simon_brooke @therightarticle "Rural" is more than farming.
@CloudyMrs @simon_brooke @therightarticle well the owner of Lego is a massive landowner in Scotland, but we can’t buy land in Denmark because non-nationals cannot own land there. It’s not an uncommon law, and it’s something we should maybe actively consider.
@peterbrown @simon_brooke @therightarticle again, that doesn't sort things retrospectively unless we're speaking about evictions. I don't think anyone is, though.
@CloudyMrs @peterbrown @therightarticle We could be talking about punitive levels of tax, though.
@simon_brooke @peterbrown @therightarticle I'd be well up for that discussion. Rather disappointed the land tax conversion seems to have stopped at all levels of government.
@CloudyMrs @peterbrown @therightarticle Craig Dalȝell (@thecommongreen) sent me a paper on land tax to comment on urgently a week ago, but I have to confess that due to stuff ging on in my life I haven't got round to dealing with it.
There are people working on it.
@ScotInTraining @peterbrown @simon_brooke @therightarticle he'd be fine. He'd qualify for joint citizenship under the Grandparent rule and would no doubt find a way to maintain his holdings.
@peterbrown @CloudyMrs @simon_brooke @therightarticle cos that'll go down well with Charlie boy when we become an independent Republic!
@CloudyMrs @peterbrown @simon_brooke @therightarticle
Not sure a monarch could have joint citizenship.....
However they would probably say such matters are only for us plebs and not them. As always.
@ScotInTraining @peterbrown @simon_brooke @therightarticle why not. He isn't King of UK.
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