approve the Rural Asset Management Plan at Annex 1; and

Transcription

1 Rural Land Asset Management Plan Decision Summary 1. This paper seeks the Board s approval of the attached plan for the of SNH s landholding and proposes seeking the Cabinet Secretary s support for our approach. Action 2. The Board is asked to: approve the Rural Asset Management Plan at Annex 1; and agree that the Chairman should write to the Cabinet Secretary seeking her support for the plan, offering to keep her sighted on the progress of individual cases of transfer of ownership, and to seek her views on those that are likely to be contentious. Preparation of Paper 3. Nick Halfhide wrote this paper, with input from John Kerr and Richard Davison, and sponsors it. Background 4. The Board considered a paper in May 2015 on SNH s Landholding Review. Members approved the principles for SNH acquiring, holding and disposing of land and requested that the policy context around community empowerment and land reform be reflected more clearly in the presentation of the principles. Members further agreed that the Protected Areas Committee should scrutinise any proposed disposals on behalf of the Board. 5. Following the Board s consideration, staff then assessed all 40 SNH owned or leased properties against these principles. As agreed by MT, the review did not cover SNH s office portfolio, nor did it include land managed under a Nature Reserve Agreement. During the review, we added the possibility of setting up Starter Farm Units on SNH land following a request from Scottish Government to all public land owners. 6. In November 2015, MT considered the detailed outcome of this assessment and approved in principle that we no longer had a strong corporate need for approximately 6,000 ha of our current holdings of 43,000 ha. MT recommended close liaison with Sponsor Team and RAFE partners on the approach to the process; and that we further refine our approach to handling the transfer of this land based on risk, cost and benefit, and community interest. MT recognised that this further analysis would not happen until 16/17 due to other priorities. 1

2 7. Initial discussions took place with Scottish Government officials in early 2016 but further engagement was postponed until after the election. Discussions then took place over the summer, and officials recommended that we engage with the Cabinet Secretary as she would wish to be sighted on our overall approach, and may wish to take a role with individual sites. 8. In the interim, some progress has been made on two sites where discussions were already on going. 9. The final draft of the Rural Asset Land Management Plan is contained at Annex 1. It emphasises our commitment to community empowerment on land that we own and manage, and where we see particular opportunities for other to maximise the delivery of public benefits. 10. We expect further community engagement to develop from our existing contacts at a local level. However, we are developing processes to respond to asset transfer requests and participation requests should groups wish to go down this statutory route. These processes will be based on guidance to be issued soon by the Scottish Government and will be in place for when the relevant parts of the Community Empowerment Act come into force, which is anticipated to be early in Next Steps 11. Assuming the Board are content with the Plan, I would recommend that the Chairman write to the Cabinet Secretary seeking her support. This would be an opportunity to set out our response to the community empowerment and land reform agendas, in particular those sites where we think others could significantly improve the public benefits from the land. 12. We should also offer to keep her informed of progress of individual cases of transfer of ownership and to seek her views on those that are likely to be contentious. Author: Nick Halfhide Date: November 2016 Contact Details: nick.halfhide@snh.gov.uk 2

3 Annex 1 SNH Rural Land Asset Management Plan Introduction This plan describes the land that we own and lease, and how we manage it. It sets out the reasons for our continued ownership of land as well as how we will decide to buy or sell land in the future. Our Purpose Our core purposes as set out in law 1 are to: - secure the conservation and enhancement of nature and landscapes - foster their understanding and facilitate their enjoyment - promote their sustainable use and We achieve these purposes in a number of ways, including by managing land for its nature and landscape and to promote public enjoyment. This helps us deliver the Scottish Government s priorities, particularly those aimed at maintaining and improving natural assets and improving health and wellbeing by connecting people with nature. Our medium-term plans for are set out in our Corporate Plan, with shorterterm priorities set out in the annual business plan. Our experience of hands-on land also benefits other aspects of our work, such as advising land managers on positive of their land. Our Land We currently own 35,500ha and lease 7,500ha of land. The names of our landholdings, their broad location, the number of hectares we own or lease at each site, and their main future use are shown in Annex 1. Further details on the location and boundary of each site are available from the SNH website. We recognise that supporting community land ownership and community empowerment is an increasingly important priority for the Scottish Government. We will support any community who expresses an interest in managing or owning land that we currently hold. Our Board has agreed that our future ownership and leasing of land will be guided by the following principles: SNH will retain or acquire land for the following purposes 1 SNH was established under the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991, in which our core purposes and functions are set out. 3

4 For natural heritage of land, including National Nature Reserves and nature reserves For operational of SNH-owned land For research and experimental For to provide ecosystem services or improvement projects For specialised, including uneconomic in compliance with the SSSI Financial Guidelines requirements For landscape, recreation and access SNH will transfer land that Another body could own and manage more effectively and efficiently: it is anticipated that community bodies could have a higher profile in NNR. Is required for developments of national importance (i.e. road improvements) Does not meet the requirements for retention described above. Our Management We manage most of our land for long-term nature conservation. The national and international importance of the nature and landscape on these sites is recognised through one or more statutory nature conservation designation. We aim to have all our land in good conservation condition. Many of our reserves have achieved the National Nature Reserve (NNR) accolade. This accolade is applied to land and water of acknowledged national importance for nature that is being managed to agreed high standards and for people to enjoy it.. We work with local communities and neighbouring land managers to secure wider public benefits from the land we own and lease. In response to the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, we will be looking to engage with communities at the earliest possible stage in thinking about outcomes and objectives for each landholding. All our land is open for public access. Facilities are most developed on our National Nature Reserves. More details can be found on the NNR website. We have written plans for each of our NNRs, available on the NNR website. These set out the aims and objectives for, and planned work over a 10 year period. Each site is managed on a day-to-day level by staff based in one of our local offices, and overseen by one of our Area Managers. Funds for capital and operational work linked to each site s plan are allocated centrally from SNH s block grant, based on organisation-wide priorities, needs and available resources. Corporate and operational risk is assessed as part of the bidding process for allocating funds. Site managers can seek additional funds to cover unforeseen events. We also seek to use other external funding for capital projects such as the development of visitor centres. 4

5 Monitoring Our Performance We have a planning and reporting tool that allows us to monitor progress towards achieving objectives within each plan. This allows us to gather and report statistics relating to our land, such as visitor numbers and events. This helps us analyse change and target resources. We currently monitor the condition of protected natural features on our land as part of the Site Condition Monitoring (SCM) programme. Our Future Plans SNH is a major public landowner in Scotland, and is committed to achieving the aims of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 towards greater community engagement in land decisions. We also have the potential to contribute to achieving the Scottish Government s target of 1 million acres of land in community ownership by We regularly keep our landholdings under review. We carried out a major assessment of our land in This identified a number of areas where the transfer of has the greatest potential to maximise public benefit over the next 5 years: Achanarras Quarry Ben Lui Braehead Moss Claish Moss Cragbank Woods Dunnet Forest Glencripesdale, Jock s Gill Wood Keen of Hamar Kirkconnel Flow Loch Druidibeg Rannoch Moor Rhynie Chert land at Gatehouse Croft Sunart Dell Woods Abernethy land at Glen Tanar We also identified some areas of land at Anancaun (part of our land at Beinn Eighe), Creag Meagaidh, Cairnsmore of Fleet, and on Rum which may be suitable as starter farm units. We welcome the involvement of community bodies in the of the land that we hold, either through ownership, lease or a joint arrangement. We will therefore consider carefully any asset transfer request or participation request from a community body that includes sound proposals for the sustainable of the land we hold. We will follow the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual and Scottish Government guidance on land asset transfers in the future transfer of any of our land. Once we have explored the possibility of a transfer with communities, other Scottish public bodies and NGOs, we may also consider sale on the open market. We will enter all our land on the Land Register by June 2019 and will make this available to the public online and in paper form. 5

6 We do not currently have plans for any significant acquisitions, although we may buy or lease small areas of land to complement our existing holdings. September

7 Annex 2 Site Name Local Authority area Area owned (ha) Area leased (ha) Future use Forvie Aberdeenshire Nature reserve Land at Glen Aberdeenshire 184 Tanar Muir of Dinnet Aberdeenshire 6 Nature reserve Rhynie Chert Aberdeenshire 8 St Cyrus Aberdeenshire 44 Nature reserve Corrie Fee Angus 166 Nature reserve Ben Lui Argyll & Bute 953 Castlehill, Islay Argyll & Bute 405 Compensatory peat extraction for distillery Glasdrum Argyll & Bute 169 Nature reserve Moine Mhor Argyll & Bute 483 Nature reserve Taynish Argyll & Bute 339 Nature reserve Caerlaverock Dumfries & Galloway Dumfries & Galloway 5,105 Nature reserve Cairnsmore of Nature reserve or 1,495 Fleet Starter farm Kirkconnell Flow Dumfries & 159 Galloway Silver Flowe Land to revert to Forest Dumfries & 200 Enterprise Scotland on Galloway termination of lease Isle of May Fife 53 Nature reserve Tentsmuir Fife Nature reserve Achanarras Highland 40 Quarry Ariundle Highland 70 Nature reserve Beinn Eighe Highland 4,357 Nature reserve Ben Wyvis Highland 2,302 Nature reserve Claish Moss Highland 569 Craigellachie Highland 257 Nature reserve Creag Meagaidh Highland 4,013 Nature reserve Dell Woods, Highland 276 Abernethy 7

8 Site Name Local Authority area Area owned (ha) Area leased (ha) Future use Dunnet Forest Highland 105 Leased to Dunnet Community Trust Glen Roy Highland 1, Nature reserve Glencripesdale Highland 608 Invereshie and Inshriach Highland 3,106 Nature reserve Knockan Crag Highland 23 Nature reserve Land at Gatehouse Croft, Sunart Highland 1 Loch Maree Highland 213 Nature reserve Islands Rum Highland 10,620 Nature reserve Na h-eileanan Loch Druidibeg 1,033 an Iar Battleby Perth & Kinross 15 Office grounds Loch Leven Perth & Kinross Nature reserve Rannoch Moor Perth & Kinross 1,511 Cragbank Woods Keen of Hamar Noss Braehead Moss Clyde Valley Woodlands Jock's Gill Wood Scottish Borders Shetland Islands Shetland Islands South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire Nature reserve leased to RSPB 0.6 Nature reserve 29 Nature reserve 17 Flanders Moss Stirling Nature reserve Loch Lomond Stirling 59 6 Nature reserve Blawhorn Moss West Lothian Nature reserve 8