Wild Land News no 61, Autumn 2004

More Hills for Sale Article

The Vestey family is to put part of their Assynt estate for sale shortly, including the hills of Suilven and Canisp. The land, amounting to approximately 40,000 acres, lies to the south of Lochinver and to the east of land owned by the Assynt crofters.

The local community are actively considering the question of a community buy-out - though to qualify for a right of pre-emption there is a fairly lengthy procedure to follow which may not be completed before the land officially comes on the market. The community could then try to seek special permission from Scottish Ministers for a pre-emptive bid.

The Scottish Wild Land Group would strongly welcome such a community bid. It would complement the Assynt crofters' estate and enable a larger area, including these iconic mountains, to be under community control. This might be expected to result in better deer control, sadly lacking in some estates. Indeed the nearby Inverpolly National Nature Reserve was de-commissioned as a reserve by SNH, we understand, as a result of the failure to agree suitable land management measures including addressing the issues of deer numbers.

Alistair Cant

21 April 2005: The Assynt Foundation are attempting a community buy-out of 44,000 acres for £3m total. They are appealing for £900,000 by the end of May 2005...