A crofter is embroiled in a £2million legal wrangle with a world-famous Highland golf club over his grazing rights.
An area covering 93 acres – at least five holes – of Royal Dornoch’s championship course lies within the common grazings of the township of Hilton of Embo, which has existed since the late 1800s under crofting law.
Crofter Kenneth Hassall has shares in land, meaning he could take cattle and sheep onto that part of the golf course.
Now he is demanding almost £2million from the club – despite the fact they have valued the land at just under £33,000.
Mr Hassall, of 301 Hilton, Embo, has taken on the golf club as crofters are “short of land”, but yesterday – as the prestigious Carnegie Shield got under way at the course – the attempt was described as “opportunistic”.
He said if a financial agreement was reached, the money would be split between 15 shareholders, commensurate to the number of shares owned.
The crofter, who says he has 150 sheep and 20 cattle, said: “We would be entitled to exercise our rights on the common grazing and we are short of land.
“We got our valuation from a reputable firm, Strutt and Parker, they (the club) got their valuation and a court date was set for June 14. But they withdrew just a few weeks before. If they were confident that their valuation was correct they would have let the judge decide. We were prepared to go ahead and let the judge decide”.
When the Sutherland Estate sold the land to the golf club in 1972, the grazing rights did not come as part of the deal.
Mr Hassall has previously intimated his rights to the club, but it is understood that about two years ago the club applied to the Scottish Land Court to resume the current use of the land without grazing rights.
However, the application was withdrawn in May this year.
Mr Hassall got a valuation of the land in December 2014 for £1,974,962.50 – an amount the club felt it was unable to pay given its own valuation of £32,965.
It is understood that in the intervening period, the club has agreed a financial settlement with all other shareholders except Mr Hassall.
Royal Dornoch Golf Club declined to comment on the matter, but East Sutherland and Edderton councillor Jim McGillivray, who lives in Embo, said: “I find it deeply regrettable that anyone would think to interfere with the operation of what is Dornoch’s fundamental economic driver.”
Councillor Graham Phillips, of the same ward, said: “I think it does seem opportunistic. The law is the law and you have to abide it, but often an extremely expensive hobby can lead to unintended consequences.
“The golf club is extremely important to the economy of Dornoch and no one wants to see it interrupted. On the other hand, if there is a legitimate claim from Mr Hassall then that needs to be seen through”.
A recent order from the land court granting leave to withdraw the application highlighted that a total of three crofters lodged answers to it, with two still willing to agree financial settlements.
Mr Hassall’s solicitor argued the club should pay full expenses of the parties who lodged answers to the application, having “acted unreasonably and inappropriately” during proceedings in that they knew of the £2million valuation since December 2014.
But the golf club’s solicitor argued the club had “acted responsibly” in the whole circumstances, as the parties were so far apart in valuation terms that the applicants could not reasonably afford what was proposed.
The court ruled that there was “no unreasonableness in the applicants’ conduct” because they had valuation evidence to support their view that they could afford resumption payment.
The document added: “But the gulf between them and Mr Hassall was unbridgeable. They therefore decided to pull the plug. Far from being an unreasonable decision, that was a responsible one”.
The championship course regularly attracts celebrities, most recently football superstar Gareth Bale. Golfing legends including Jack Nicklaus and Ernie Els have also been spotted, while former US president Bill Clinton has also famously tackled the links.
