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Conference on 20 November 1999

bulletStirling University
bullet140 participants
bulletFinancial Support from
WWF Scotland, The Network Foundation & Scottish Enterprise

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bulletpresentations
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Summary
The Scottish Land Reform Convention held its first annual conference at Stirling University on 20 November 1999. Over 140 participants attended and spent the day at a wide variety of workshops ranging from housing and homelessness to public access, from forestry to urban poverty, and from crofting to God's justice and the public interest.
Canon Kenyon Wright, former Chair of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, made the keynote address in which he stressed the urgency, importance and symbolism of land reform. "Land Reform", he argued, "may be the policy area which tests the new Scottish Parliament's real intention and resolve to reform our society."

He recalled the words of Dr James Hunter in his 1995 McEwen Memorial Lecture, "A parliament which is prepared to act decisively on land will be a parliament which will thus demonstrate its willingness to alter Scotland fundamentally. A parliament which, conversely, shies away from land reform will be a parliament which, by its dodging of this most symbolic issue, will make it clear that, although we shall again have our own legislature, no great consequence will follow from the fact"
Kenyon Wright stressed the fact that land reform is ultimately about power and that the four principles of the Scottish Land Reform Convention are related to that shift of power:
Sovereignty power is limited, never absolute or unconditional
Democracy power is to be shared, at different levels as appropriate
Social Justice power carries responsibilities
Stewardship power is answerable and accountable
He argued, too, that land reform will test not just policy, but process. "It could be the area which demonstrates the reality or otherwise of the new political culture of accessible and participative government. The Land Reform Convention", he suggested, "could be a pioneer of the new way of politics that reflects genuine participation in the development of policy, rather than cosmetic consultation by the Executive or Government after the real decisions have already been taken."
The 1999 Scottish Land Reform Convention Conference marked an important milestone in the development of the Convention. Delegates from a broad spectrum of civic society came together, many for the first time, to share their experience and understanding of the relevance of the land reform agenda to their interests.
Click HERE for highlights of a few of the many workshops which took place on the day.

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