Community Engagement Obligations and draft large land holdings guidance under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025
Community Engagement Obligations: Land Management Plans - flexibility in the land covered by an LMP
Background
This section asks questions about the land that may be covered by an LMP and whether there should be limits on the use of shared or combined plans.
The 2025 Act requires that there is a publicly available LMP in relation to land that is a large land holding.
What we propose
We consider that landowners should have flexibility on the land included in individual LMPs, provided that the approach is clear and supports meaningful community engagement.
For example, landowners may choose to:
- prepare a single LMP covering a single large land holding;
- prepare separate LMPs for different parts of the same large land holding;
- prepare a single LMP covering multiple large land holdings;
- prepare a collaborative LMP covering land owned or managed by multiple owners;
- include land that is not part of a large land holding in an LMP if they wish to do so.
We are considering whether guidance or regulations should place some limits on when multiple large land holdings can be covered by a single LMP.
For example, it may not be appropriate for a single LMP to cover landholdings that are geographically distant from one another, relate to different local communities, or have very different management objectives. Such arrangements could make it more difficult for communities to understand how the plan relates to the land in their area and how they can participate in engagement.