Engaging communities in decisions relating to land - guidance: review

Context

Purpose and Audience

10. The principal purpose of the Guidance is to help ensure that people have the opportunity to be involved in decisions about land that affect them. It contains guidelines on when, how and with whom engagement should take place.

11. The Guidance is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive, and recognises that engagement should be tailored to meet local circumstances. It supports the normalisation of engagement and collaboration with local communities about significant issues and local communities and land owners seeing each other as partners in achieving sustainable development.

12. It is aimed at all those with control over land, including private and public land owners, NGOs, charities and community owners. It applies to all land in Scotland and does not replace or duplicate existing statutory requirements for consultation and engagement.For the purposes of the Guidance, 'land' includes buildings and other structures, land covered with water, and any right or interest over land.

Guidance

13. The Guidance sets out expectations that anyone who is making decisions about land should be proactive in engaging with communities affected by those decisions, and how and when they should engage. It notes that it is reasonable for Scotland's local communities to expect engagement about land, especially where issues connected to human rights are part of the consideration.

14. The Guidance also sets out what communities can expect, the purpose of engagement, and advises on the best way to work with land owners or their delegated managers and the types of activities likely to require engagement.

15. The Guidance does not relate to any particular land-based activity or sector and applies to all situations where decisions being made about land might affect local communities. It is flexible enough to be useful in a wide variety of situations and can adapt to changing socio-economic and environmental circumstances and contexts.

16. The Guidance is divided into ten key areas, set out as sub-headings:

1. Benefits of engagement

2. When to engage with communities

3. Significant impact

4. Cumulative effects

5. Relationship with existing statutory requirements to consult

6. Who to engage

7. Specialist issues

8. Best practice principles for fair engagement

9. Removing barriers to engagement

10. Joined-up engagement

17. The Guidance also sets out expectations regarding the use of personal and business information and highlights the National Standard for Community Engagement^[6].

18. The Guidance has a diagram^[7] to support those looking to engage with communities assess when they should do so, and another diagram^[8] to advise on the different levels and methods of engagement. Further information on fairness, human rights and equalities considerations is contained in Annex A^[9] of the Guidance.

Public Attitude and Awareness

19. Findings from the Ipsos MORI report into attitudes towards land reform in Scotland suggest that, when thinking about 'land in Scotland', participants tended to think first about rural land that has not been built on. There was a perception among urban participants that land was something 'out there' and located away from where most people live. There was also a strong sense of pride among participants when thinking of Scotland's land and an awareness of the wide range of ways in which Scotland's land benefits individuals and the country as a whole.

20. Survey respondents were asked whether they had previously been involved in any decision-making around land use, including in cities or towns as well as rural areas. Overall, 13% of respondents had been involved while 85% had not. Those most likely to have been involved included:

• those living in accessible rural areas (26%) and remote rural areas (22%), compared with 11% of those in large urban areas;
• those who oppose both statutory access rights (22%) and diversification of land ownership (22%), compared with 12% and 13% respectively of those who support these policies;
• those with a degree or equivalent (15%) compared with 8% of those with no formal qualifications and 10% with a school/college qualification;
• those in less deprived areas - those in the most deprived areas (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 1) were only half as likely as those in other areas to have been involved (7% compared with 13% overall).

21. There was strong support for the principle of encouraging greater community involvement in decision-making around land use, with a lack of awareness rather than a lack of willingness being cited as an explanation for participants not being involved in the process.

22. Frustration was also expressed in relation to processes, structures and timescales of involvement. Shortages of funding to support local communities' interests, as well as low numbers of people involved were also identified as blockers.

23. Survey respondents were asked to give up to three reasons that were stopping them from becoming more involved in decision-making about land use. The most common barriers were not knowing enough about it (48%), not knowing how to get involved (32%), not having enough time (25%) and not thinking their involvement would change anything (17%).

24. Around two thirds (64%) of survey respondents said they would 'definitely' or 'probably' be interested in being more involved in decision-making around land and planning/development in the future, while one third (35%) said they would 'probably' or 'definitely not' be interested.

25. There were higher levels of interest in younger participants aged 16-34 (70%) and 35-54 (69%) than those aged 55+ (55%). There was also a notable difference between those with no formal education (32% expressed interest) and those with either a college qualification (61% expressed interest) or a university degree or equivalent (71% expressed interest).

26. The research revealed that the public have a strong sense of pride in Scotland's land and an awareness of the wide range of ways in which the land benefits individuals and the country as a whole.

27. There was low awareness of the Scottish Government's land reform agenda as a whole (though slightly more awareness of some specific aspects such as Community Right to Buy and access rights). Once explained to participants, however, there was considerable support for the overall aims and for specific policies on diversification of land ownership; vacant and derelict land; access rights and community involvement in decision-making.

28. The term 'land reform' is perceived as somewhat nebulous and is associated with undeveloped rural land. A greater emphasis on the urban elements and buildings in rural towns and villages may help engage more of the public and help them see the relevance of land reform to their own lives.