Fife
Council
www.fife.gov.uk
Fife Council scores 5/10.
Fife Council has the largest number of former burghs that had Town Councils up to 1975 (the ones set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947).
It has 25 in total. One might argue that it should know all there is to know about Common Good. Well, In a way this is true since one of their solicitors is Andrew Ferguson, author of Common Good Law (an order form for this book is available for download on the Common Good page at right hand side). He has developed his expertise in the topic partly as a consequence of the case work deriving from having 25 former burghs.
However, the Council itself, remains quite in the dark about many of the common good assets it holds and possesses inadequate records. In the words of their Estates Department,
"The attached list provides details of the location and description of Common Good land from the Financial Records passed to the Council from the former Burghs and District Councils. The recorded description is not always helpful and an exercise is in hand to improve this aspect. The extent of the land is not recorded because as advised above due to the vague description in the titles this is not always shown."
In other words, Fife Council was, up until 2005, relying on data that had never been checked in 30 years. Nevertheless, there appear to be quite comprehensive records for burghs such as Crail, Inverkeithing and Pittenweem. Elsewhere the record is a bit thin. In the following 8 out of the total 25 burghs there is no record of any Common Good Land,
www.fife.gov.uk
Fife Council scores 5/10.
Fife Council has the largest number of former burghs that had Town Councils up to 1975 (the ones set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947).
It has 25 in total. One might argue that it should know all there is to know about Common Good. Well, In a way this is true since one of their solicitors is Andrew Ferguson, author of Common Good Law (an order form for this book is available for download on the Common Good page at right hand side). He has developed his expertise in the topic partly as a consequence of the case work deriving from having 25 former burghs.
However, the Council itself, remains quite in the dark about many of the common good assets it holds and possesses inadequate records. In the words of their Estates Department,
"The attached list provides details of the location and description of Common Good land from the Financial Records passed to the Council from the former Burghs and District Councils. The recorded description is not always helpful and an exercise is in hand to improve this aspect. The extent of the land is not recorded because as advised above due to the vague description in the titles this is not always shown."
In other words, Fife Council was, up until 2005, relying on data that had never been checked in 30 years. Nevertheless, there appear to be quite comprehensive records for burghs such as Crail, Inverkeithing and Pittenweem. Elsewhere the record is a bit thin. In the following 8 out of the total 25 burghs there is no record of any Common Good Land,
- Buckhaven & Methil
- Cowdenbeath
- Elie & Earlsferry
- Ladybank
- Lochgelly
- Newburgh
- Newport on Tay
- Tayport
5/10