North Ayrshire has fourth-highest mass of vacant land in Scotland irvinetimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irvinetimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tiny forrest project to have huge impact for kids in Glasgow AN East End community is now home to Scotland’s first Tiny Forest – one of a dozen around the UK bringing green benefits to deprived areas. Sited on Avenue End Road in Easterhouse, the forest is no bigger than a tennis court but organisers promising significant boosts from the scheme. It forms part of Earthwatch Europe’s scheme to plant hundreds of Tiny Forests across urban areas of the UK by 2023. Clara Stevenson, Programmes and Partnership Director at Earthwatch Europe, said: “Tiny Forests provide rich opportunities for connecting young people with the environment and sustainability.
SCOTLAND is losing out on “substantial revenue” by under-taxing owners of vacant and derelict land, according to new research by a prominent land reform campaigner. Research conducted by Andy Wightman MSP shows that 2199 non-domestic properties were deemed derelict or vacant by the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in 2020, with a combined rateable value (RV) of £12,697,970. Some 624 of these sites – more than a quarter – were in Glasgow. However, they were given a collective RV of just £8500. This is less than 0.07% of the total taxable value of all Scotland’s derelict land and an average of £14 per site. Glasgow City Council said the prevalence of derelict land was “due to the sheer scale of industrial land and activity” from the city’s past and that some sites had been brought “back to productive use” over the last decade. Glasgow City Assessors said the 624 sites it had rated were currently “of little or no rateable value”.