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appetite is there from Fife communities, from industry, from Westminster and Scottish exporters. We need the Scottish Government to prioritise this work to reduce the climate impact of transporting freight and for the local and national impact it would bring.

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possible. Whilst I understand that due process must be followed, I’m concerned that opening a consultation ‘soon’ with the hope for legislative change ahead of the next election – less than 6 months away - with a growing backlog in the Scottish Parliament that this will be very tough ask.

The

super-rich who are hoarding far too much.

far more interested in maximising their own profits than creating thriving high streets and communities. The Scottish Greens want the land hoarders to pay up, or sell up.

This will free up more land for affordable housing, supporting community regeneration and taking power back from the

or local businesses. A derelict land tax could finally unlock these areas, help Stirling tackle its housing shortage and breathe new life into our town and village centres.

Instead, across Scotland, whole swathes of our towns, city centres and countryside are held to ransom by landowners

down the whole area. We can all think of examples in our own communities which lie empty from the old Ministry of Defence site at Forthside, to long-neglected plots such as on Fallin Main Street. We are left staring at crumbling walls and fenced-off wasteland instead of new homes, green space

them.

The derelict land charge is based on recommendations from the Scottish Government-commissioned Barclay Review into non-domestic tax rates.

There are more than 9,000 hectares of vacant or derelict land across Scotland. There are examples across Stirling of eyesore sites dragging

council tax on empty and holiday homes. That reform has been a major success, raising millions of pounds for local services and resulting in the number of holiday homes reducing by nearly 2,500 in a single year, meaning that more properties were being sold to those who would actually live in

to apply an extra charge on derelict sites instead, raising money for local services and pushing the owners to either use or sell the land.

This would build on our previous efforts to bring more land and property into productive use and tackle the housing crisis, including powers to increase

to bring their land or properties back into productive use - instead choosing to sit on it while paying nothing and waiting for the land value to go up, or simply blocking potential competitors from buying and developing the site.

The Scottish Greens proposals would give councils the power

important we can protect the greenspaces from development while releasing abandoned land for homes and businesses.

Historically, when land or a building became unused, the owner would get a reduction on their business rates, often for years and often 100%. This gave site owners no incentive

homes or businesses, but forcing it to remain derelict for years or even decades.

This practice, known as ‘landbanking’, has often been used by supermarkets and other businesses who want to block their competitors from setting up nearby. We all know Stirling needs new housing, it’s

on huge amounts of derelict and vacant land preventing it from being used in ways that would support our local economy.

The proposals, which we tabled as an amendment to the Land Reform Bill, would crack down on the scandal of individuals and companies buying up land that could be used for