The Scottish Land Court has scheduled an initial hearing for the land dispute between Brora Golf Club and local crofters who have grazing rights over the course.
A virtual procedural hearing is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, October 14, although the Land Court has warned that hearings can be “subject to cancellation at short notice”.
During a procedural hearing, the court focuses on logistics, administrative rules and timelines to ensure that the subsequent full hearing runs smoothly.
Deadlines are established for each side to submit their documents, statements and evidence, and the issues to be discussed are clarified. The next steps of the case are also organised. No witnesses speak at a procedural hearing.
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Brora Community Council seeks meeting with golf club over grazings dispute
Brora Community Council seeks ‘mediation meeting’ as golf club bids to ban crofters from grazing livestock on local course
Brora Golf Club, which is a member-owned sports and social club, has applied to the Scottish Land Court to remove the crofters’ rights to graze their animals on the course – a process known as “resumption”.
Crofters have a historic right to graze cattle and sheep on the course, with the grazings managed by East Brora Muir, Dalchalm, and Greenhill Common Grazings Committee.
Sixteen crofters hold a total of 48 shares in the common grazings with a total of 48 cows and their calves or 240 sheep and their lambs permitted on the course in total..
While small areas of grazings have been resumed across the Highlands, it is thought that this is the first attempt to resume a complete grazings, which would therefore set a precedent.
Brora Community Council has been attempting to facilitate a ‘mediation meeting’ between the two parties in the hope that they could reach a resolution where the two sides could co-exist before the case went to the Land Court.
The community council was updated on the progress of this at its meeting last month.
Councillors were informed that replies had been received from the golf club and a solicitor representing the crofters in response to the council’s invitation.Both replies were read out at the meeting.
The reply from the crofters’ solicitor stated:”My clients remain keen to try and find an amiable and reasonable resolution to this dispute and I hope the golf club will approach the matter in the same manner.”
However, the golf club responded non-committally, stating: “The matter you refer to is a legal case currently sitting with the Scottish Land Court. Any business relating to this case is managed by the legal representatives for the parties involved which would include any proposals for mediation. At this time there have been no mediation proposals agreed with the parties involved.”
The community council agreed to have another try at bringing the two sides together, this time through their legal representatives.
Meanwhile community councillor Ruwan Uduwerage Perera urged the council to take a stance, saying: “We should not be neutral. We are talking about crofting and the whole historical aspect and I cannot see how a community council can sit back and say we do not have an opinion on this. We should be 100 per cent on the side of the crofters, overtly so.”
To see the scheduled Scottish Land Court hearings, click here.
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