A Western Isles grazings committee has been sacked by the Crofting Commission in what is seen as a rare and extreme move.
A lengthy bitter dispute in the village of Upper Coll in Lewis over the management of communal moorland has resulted in all eight crofters on the grazings committee being thrown out of office.
The village was created when servicemen returned from WW1. They raided Upper Coll farm, marking out small crofts. Eventually the government conceded their right to the land.
Some 100 years on, it is understood the government agency, the Crofting Commission, may effectively take over the grazings by installing an investigating officer.
The commission acknowledged it did not tell the accused committee or villagers about the purpose of the November forum.
Outgoing committee members describe the sacking as “dictatorial, vindictive and unjustified.”
The shock dismissal comes after the committee was censured after two shareholders complained it was not conducting its duties properly.
Kenneth Macdonald, who was the chairman of the deposed grazings committee stated: “Our village was formed in the face of threats in the 1920s.
“We are proud of the way the village has been managed all these years and are not impressed by the bully boy tactics that have been shown by the Crofting Commission.”
A commission spokesperson said: “As this is a live and on-going case we cannot comment further than to explain that, action in this case resulted from an approach to the Crofting Commission by shareholders in the Upper Coll Grazings, asking the commission to investigate issues relating to the functioning of the grazings committee, in terms of Section 47(8) of the Crofting Acts. The Commission will investigate when requests of this nature are brought to us by shareholders.
“In this case, there are a number of options for shareholders to consider and the commission is intending to hold an early meeting with the shareholders to present these options to them. It would not, therefore, be appropriate to discuss these with a third party before a discussion has taken place with the shareholders themselves. The commission will shortly be writing to shareholders to explain this.”
