Why land reform matters: The power of people and place

As part of the celebrations to mark 100 years since the resettlement of Galson village, Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn will host one of Community Land Scotland’s talks in the Simon Fraser Memorial series during its extended heritage festival, Dùthchas next month.

The Simon Fraser Memorial series looks at the life and works of Simon Fraser, a solicitor and pioneer of land reform in Scotland. Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn is a community landowner of the Galson Estate on the Isle of Lewis who worked closely with Simon following the community buy out in 2007.

They will be joined by guest speaker, Brian Wilson.

As a journalist and Labour politician, Brian has campaigned for decades on land reform; as a Minister he instigated the Community Land Unit at HIE and the Scottish Land Fund. He supported and admired the essential work done by Simon Fraser to help deliver a string of community buy-outs. In this lecture, Brian will ask how that momentum can be regained and explain why it matters.

Read Brian Wilson’s lecture here.