Community stakes out a loch

HOT on the heels of our report on how urban community groups can gain pre-emption rights when buildings or land come on the market, a Fife group is splashing out on purchasing a small loch.

Having just bought its first plot beside Kinghorn Loch for the

development of a new ecology centre, Kinghorn Community Land Association aims to gradually acquire the whole of the loch whenever surrounding plots become available. With 19 separate ownerships around the shoreline, it could take decades to complete the acquisition and is one of the most complicated applications launched under the Land Reform Act.