Assynt Crofters' Trust takes legal advice over hostile 'takeover' of John Muir Trust's Quinag Estate as bitter deer cull row continues
Assynt Crofters' Trust has announced it is considering a hostile community takeover of land owned by its neighbour, wildland conservation charity the John Muir Trust (JMT).
It is the latest move in an escalating dispute triggered by NatureScot’s authorisation of an out of season and night-time licence to JMT to cull deer on its 3,699-hectare Quinag Estate as a means of protecting woodland.
And it comes after the trust lodged complaintsover the deer cull with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and also with the Environmental Standards Authority.
In addition a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has been lodged with NatureScot concerning the granting of the out of season licence.
The trust said in a statement issued earlier this week: “Assynt Crofters’ Trust are considering the feasibility of joining in a community buyout of the mountain of Quinag from the John Muir Trust.”
The crofters, who in 1992 launched the first community attempt of its kind to buy the 21,000 North Lochinver Estate, are taking legal advice with a view to potentially triggering a clause in land reform legislation.
The Community Empowerment (Scotland ) Act 2015 introduced part 3A into the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 which allows qualifying community bodies to buy land which is “being used or managed in a way that results in or causes harm to the environmental wellbeing of a relevant community".
The trust believes JMT’s decision to undertake an out of season cull, despite strenuous protests from its neighbours, represents such an action.
Tensions between JMT and its neighbours on the Assynt Peninsula over its deer cull numbers have simmered for years but recently broke out afresh.
The trust and other landowners were angry to learn that NatureScot had granted JMT authorisation to cull deer until the end of March and at night. In Scotland the stag shooting season runs from July 1 to October 20, and the hind shooting season from October 21 to February 15.
Estate owners whose land borders Quinag have slammed it as a “completely gratuitous killing of deer that will have a lasting and detrimental effect on all JMT’s neighbours and the local community as a whole".
They have questioned the necessity for the cull, saying that fencing off the woodland in question would be a perfectly adequate means of protection.
The argument led to JMT withdrawing from the Assynt Peninsular Sub-Group (APSG). The group comes under the West Sutherland Deer Management Group and provides a forum for those involved in deer management locally to discuss issues.
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) has backedAssynt Crofters' Trust and is calling for the out of season licence to be suspended until the reasons for granting it and its potential impacts can be properly evaluated.
A spokesman said: “The Scottish Gamekeepers Association is backing its professional deer stalking members within the local community, whose jobs are likely to be threatened by JMT’s culls.”
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A spokesman for the John Muir Trust said: "The John Muir Trust has been informed, not directly, but via the media, that the Assynt Crofters Trust is "considering the feasibility of joining a community buyout of the mountain of Quinag from the John Muir Trust".
"We know that this has not been discussed with members of the Assynt Crofters Trust nor with the wider community of Assynt. We suspect that this is the work of a few individual office bearers working with people from outside the community, pursuing their own agenda.
"Moreover, our understanding is that the Assynt Crofters Trust is a collection of individuals managing the land privately with a strong focus on sports shooting, which is a model more akin to private rather than community land ownership.
"We note the role in this dispute of an individual from outside the area who has a wider political agenda, and has long been hostile to both the John Muir Trust and the Scottish Government.
"The track record of the John Muir Trust, locally and nationally , speaks for itself. We supported and helped fund the historic Assynt Crofters Trust buy-out in 1992 before current land reform legislation helped develop the concept of community ownership and management. We have since supported and contributed to the funding of a number of other community land buy-outs, most recently in Langholm, where we helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds.
"We have a strong working relationship with Community Land Scotland, and with a number of community landowners across Scotland. We have staunchly supported the Scottish Government's initiatives to drive forward diversification of landownership and ensure that large estates are managed for the public rather than private interests, including in our recent consultation response to the new Land Reform Bill."
NatureScot said: "Deer are an iconic species but their high numbers and lack of natural predators mean that they can have a negative impact on woodland and biodiversity. Sustainable deer management is vital to effectively tackle the nature loss and climate change crises.
“The John Muir Trust (JMT) submitted an application to us seeking authorisation to control deer out-of-season and at night on their Quinag land, to prevent damage to woodland and other habitats, including those on protected sites. We issued the authorisation because we are satisfied that damage is occurring or likely to occur, and that no other reasonable means of control can be adopted to prevent damage.
“We have met with the Assynt Peninsula sub-group of the West Sutherland Deer Management Group and local stakeholders this week to hear their concerns and we remain open to further discussions.”