Government appoints land commissioners

The Scottish Government has appointed six commissioners to the first Scottish Land Commission.

The commission, which will be based in Inverness, has been set up as part of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016.

It will be tasked with reviewing law and policy and making recommendations to Government ministers on any matter relating to Scotland’s land.

Last month, the Government appointed civil servant Hilary Pearce as the interim chief executive of the body, and confirmed that around 20 new jobs would be created at the organisation which will be operational from April 2017.

The Government has now confirmed the appointment of five land commissioners and a tenant farming commissioner, subject to parliamentary approval.

Andrew Thin, who is the Government’s independent adviser for tenant farming, is one of the five land commissioners and he has also been appointed chairman of the commission.

The other four land commissioners are: Professor David Adams, a senior academic who was an adviser to the land reform review group; Lorne MacLeod, who is a commercial director of a retail and distribution business on Skye and the chairman of Community Land Scotland; Dr Sally Reynolds, an active crofter who runs the Lewis and Harris Greylag Goose management scheme; and Megan MacInnes, who works as a land adviser to London-based organisation Global Witness.

The new tenant farming commissioner is Dr Bob McIntosh, who served as the Government’s director for environment and forestry from 2012-15.