The Common Good is frequently appearing as a significant issue in many local campaigns across Scotland related to housing and urban redevelopment. The Common Good are land, buildings and assets that have been given to the people of a particular burgh or city in common ownership and for the benefit of their common wellbeing. As such any revenue created from them must be invested in public resources, and Common Good assets cannot be sold or redeveloped without legal approval. As more and more councils are selling off and redeveloping public land and privatising public assets it is becoming apparent that much of this is part of the Common Good.
Current campaigns in which this has become an issue include:
- the 'Caltongate' development in Edinburgh
- a campaign to reopen the community town hall in Kinross
- redevelopment of Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline
- plans for private developments in public parks in Glasgow such as the Botanics and Pollok Park.
The stewardship of Common Good assets in Scotland is currently maintained by the regional councils. There is growing evidence to show that in many cases these assets are not being properly audited and maintained and that revenue from them is being misdirected into internal council expenditure rather than public benefit. Along with the growing awareness of this misappropriation of public funds, communities across Scotland are also questioning if the councils are the right people to steward the assets. Many are now calling for the Common Good to be fully returned to public control as part of a Scottish 'commons', thereby creating a means of funding, as one example, community-owned housing.
Land reform researcher and activist Andy Wightman, author of 'Who Owns Scotland?', has been one of the key people in raising awareness about the Common Good in Scotland. In this interview he explains what the Common Good is, provides examples of how it has been abused, and outlines his own vision of how it could be returned it to community control.
A video of the interview is available on archive.org:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheCommonGoodInScotland
A survey of the Common Good in Scotland:
http://www.scottishcommons.org
City Strolls 'Common Good for Beginners':
http://www.citystrolls.com/latest-updates/scenarios.htm
Local campaigns with Common Good issues:
http://www.eh8.org.uk
http://independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com
http://www.glasgowlost.org
http://www.savepollokpark.com
http://www.saveourbotanics.com
http://www.kinross.cc/town%20hall/mainpage.htm
http://www.saveourglen.com
http://www.citystrolls.com/latest-updates/links-common-good.htm
http://scottishlaw.blogspot.com/2006/11/scottish-parliament-to-hear-common.html
Recording of Andy Wightman talking in Edinburgh:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheStoryoftheEdinburghCommonGoodFund
Related
Re: A Vision of the Common Good