How its proposals for land reform will benefit rural communities.

The access provisions of the Bill will not only provide the public with greater confidence to visit the Scottish countryside, but result in more opportunity for them to do so by the creation of new paths. There is growing interest in outdoor recreation on the part of both Scots themselves and visitors from elsewhere. The legislation will help encourage greater participation in outdoor pursuits, creating opportunities for rural communities and bringing benefits to rural economies.The community right to buy will benefit rural communities by providing greater opportunities for them to determine their own future. It will enable them to register an interest in, and subsequently purchase, land with which they can demonstrate a connection. This will provide rural communities with a right to buy when the land which is subject to the registered interest comes to be sold. If the community decides to proceed, it will have six months to raise the necessary funding to make ownership of the land a reality. This will give rural communities much more time to organise funding than at present, where they may have only a few weeks to do so.The crofting community right to buy will enable crofting communities to acquire the land on which they live and work, and by doing so give them control over the land and the ability to develop their communities. More than that, it decisively changes the balance of power between the community and the landowner, and will ensure that landowners pay proper regard to the needs of these communities.