Playground for the super rich

Campaigners hit out as 400 private landowners hoard half of Scotland

- BY DAN VEVERS

HALF of Scotland will remain a playground for super-rich landowners under weak land reform plans, an MSP had warned.

Labour's Mercedes Villalba, who tabled far tougher proposals to crack down on land monopolies, hit out at the "watered down" SNP legislation.

Branding the Scottish Government's flagship Land Reform Bill a disappointment, she said it will do nothing to prevent continued "land-grabs" by billionaires, particularly in areas such as the Highlands.

It follows previous bids to reform who owns land in the nation to make it less of a monopoly for the rich - all of which campaigners say have fallen short.

Scotland has some of the most concentrated land owner-ship in the Western world with half of all private land owned by just 400 people.

These include Richard Scott, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch, who owns about 200,000 acres of land including Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire.