Bare Facts: Land Reform

The Bare Facts October event will see land reform author and campaigner, Andy Wightman and photographer and filmmaker Chris Leslie discuss the implications of land reform in Scotland. An evening of music and political debate; hosted by the fabulous Viv Gee.

Scotland has the most concentrated land ownership in the developed world. Half of Scotland’s private land is owned by just 432 owners. Yet, land reform is not simply a rural issue. Over 26,000 acres of urban Scotland lies derelict. And over 750,000 acres is registered in overseas tax havens. Houses are increasingly unaffordable for young people. Land reform concerns us all.

With music from Scots Singer of the Year, Siobhan Miller and the eclectic fun loving, League of Highland Gentlemen, this is a night not to be missed!

Speaker Bios

Andy Wightman is a writer and researcher best known for his work on land ownership in Scotland. He is the author of Who Owns Scotland and The Poor Had No Lawyers. He began his career as a scientist working on renewable energy at the University of Aberdeen. Over the past 20 years, he contributed to a wide range of debates on land use, land reform, the Crown estate, common good land, local democracy and fiscal reform. Author of a number of reports on these topics, he also served as a Specialist Adviser to the UK Parliament's Scottish Affairs Committee Inquiry on land reform 2014–2015. Coordinator of the Land Action Scotland campaign, a member of the Commission on Local Tax Reform and is a member of the Scottish Green Party and candidate for Holyrood in 2016.

Chris Leslie is a BAFTA Scotland (New Talent) award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker from Glasgow. He has worked with different socially engaged projects since 1996 when he, as a volunteer, set up a photography project in a Sarajevo orphanage. Today he works as a freelance photographer and filmmaker for different NGOs and other clients across Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. During the last 10 years, Chris Leslie has photographed and filmed the condemned housing schemes of his home city for the Glasgow Renaissance project. Using photography and audio Chris documents the memories and lost livelihoods of residents and the disappearance of schemes and communities - issues largely forgotten in the utopian goals of regeneration. A photo book on the Glasgow Renaissance will be published in 2016. www.chrisleslie.com / www.glasgow-renaissance.co.uk.

Photography by Chris Leslie.

This event will be live-streamed and can be viewed below and here.

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