DR AYLWIN PILLAI
Lecturer, University of Aberdeen
School of Law
Dr Aylwin Pillai has been a Lecturer in Law at the University of Aberdeen since 2005. Prior to taking up her post at Aberdeen Aylwin held an AHRC funded postdoctoral research position at the University of Dundee examining the environmental regulation of hydro-electric developments in Scotland. She holds Masters (Environmental Law) and PhD degrees from the University of Aberdeen. Aylwin’s AHRC funded PhD research examined the role of the principle of sustainable development in Part 2 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Aylwin co-directs the Rural Law Research Group and her main research interest is in rural law, encompassing aspects of environmental and property law. She is particularly interested in land ownership and community rights of acquisition and in rural land use and development, including renewable energy development.
ANNE-MICHELLE SLATER
Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen
School of Law
Anne-Michelle Slater is a founding member of the Rural Law Research Group and co organiser of this conference. She is a planning law specialist, completing a succinct overview text of the reformed planning regime in Scotland, Planning Law Essentials, Dundee University Press (2010). She has a long standing interest in rural law beyond planning matters and has published on access and national parks in Scotland. Anne-Michelle’s current research focuses on the emerging area of marine spatial planning. At present she is engaged in an interdisciplinary project on marine information requirements arising from the new marine planning and licensing regime, funded by The Crown Estate.
MARK SHUCKSMITH
Professor Mark Shucksmith OBE is Professor of Planning at Newcastle University, and was formerly at Aberdeen University from 1981-2004. Mark is a Commissioner with the Commission for Rural Communities, served on the Government’s Affordable Rural Housing Commission, advises the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on rural issues, was Chair of the Scottish Government’s Committee of Inquiry into Crofting in 2007/08, and served on the recent CRC Inquiry into the future of Upland Communities. His main areas of research include social exclusion in rural areas, rural housing, rural development, agricultural change and rural policy.
BRIAN S PACK OBE
Brian has recently chaired the Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland and the Final Report has now been published. He is Chairman of the Rowett Research Institute and a member of Court and Convenor of the Operating Board of Aberdeen University. He holds various non-executive positions including being a Director of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. He is also Managing Director of Farmdata Ltd, an agricultural software company. Previously he was Chief Executive of ANM Group Ltd. He has had a lifetime involvement in agriculture having started his career as an agricultural economist at the North of Scotland College of Agriculture (forerunner of SAC).
DONALD RENNIE
President of the European Council for Rural Law. Until retirement practised as a solicitor in Edinburgh accredited as a specialist in agricultural law, Formerly Vice President of the Scottish Lawyers European Group and Secretary of the Scottish Agricultural Arbiters’ Association. Joint editor, Connell on the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Acts (7th Edition).
HAMISH LEAN
Hamish Lean is a partner with Stronachs in Aberdeen, where he leads the agricultural and rural law team. He has been accredited as a specialist in agricultural law since 2000 with a particular interest in agricultural tenancy legislation. He is a frequent practitioner in the Scottish Land Court and a regular speaker at courses and seminars across the country.
LUC BODIGUEL
Dr Luc Bodiguel is Chargé de Recherche with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and teaches agricultural law at the University of Nantes. His published work includes L’Entreprise Rurale: Entre Activités Économiques et Territoire Rural (Harmattan, 2002), The regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms: Comparative Approaches (Oxford University Press, 2010, edited with Michael Cardwell), and a wide range of articles on the Common Agricultural Policy, agricultural law, and environmental law. He has participated in several national research projects (addressing, inter alia, the governance of water resources, multifunctionality, Natura 2000, country planning). At present, he is Scientific Director of the University of Nantes Diploma on the Environment and Sustainable Development of Land and he serves on the executive committee of the Comité Européen de Droit Rural.
MICHAEL CARDWELL
Michael Cardwell is Professor of Agricultural Law at the School of Law, University of Leeds, which he joined in 1990 after six years in private practice with Burges Salmon, Bristol. The focus of his research is the legal framework governing the Common Agricultural Policy; and his published work includes The European Model of Agriculture (Oxford University Press, 2004) and The Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms: Comparative Approaches (co-edited with Luc Bodiguel) (Oxford University Press, 2010).
DR ANDREW D CAMERON
Senior Lecturer in Forestry
1976-1983; BSc Forestry and PhD – University of Aberdeen
1983-1989; Forestry Commission Forest Officer
1989 – Present; Lecturer in Department of Forestry
Research focus on effects of silvicultural practice on wood properties and climate related damage to forests
Over 50 peer reviewed research papers
Member of several forestry industry committees and advisor to Scottish Government on forest policy
COLIN REID
Colin Reid is Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Dundee where he has worked since 1991, moving from a lectureship at Aberdeen University. His writings include Nature Conservation Law (3rd ed 2009) and he is on the editorial boards of several journals, as well being active in the UK Environmental Law Association and Society of Legal Scholars.
ALAN SMAILES
Superintendent Alan Smailes has thirty years’ police service in Grampian and has extensive experience of rural policing, including being Divisional Commander in Moray between 2003 and 2009. Chair of the Scottish Wildlife Crime Tasking and Coordinating Group, Grampian Partnership Against Wildlife Crime and the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group, he is heavily involved in promoting efforts to reduce wildlife crime in Scotland.
ROBBIE KERNAHAN
Robbie Kernahan currently works for Scottish Natural Heritage and is responsible for oversight and delivery of SNH’s statutory deer and species licensing functions. He was previously employed as technical director of the Deer Commission for Scotland.
IAN BAKER
Ian Baker has 33 years banking experience with Barclays and during that time has worked with the agriculture sector for 17 years. Ian’s ethos is to work in partnership with business owners to help them to realise their ambitions and plans for the future. Ian lives in East Anglia and is an active member of the local agriculture community.
ANNA THOMAS
MA (Hons) MLE MRICS
Director – Savills Rural Property
Anna buys, sells and values farms and estates throughout Scotland. She has negotiated a number of significant transactions including the sale of Dumfries Estate to a consortium led by Prince Charles in 2007, and the sale of the 90,000 acre South Uist Estate to the island community in 2006. She is currently handling a diverse portfolio of property across Scotland.
DOUGLAS BELL
BSc (Hons), Senior Agricultural Policy Consultant, SAC Consulting.
In addition to delivering business consultancy to clients, Douglas’s role includes providing specialist support to his colleagues on all aspects of farm business management, particularly the impacts of policy reforms. He has wide consultancy and practical experience with farming businesses and corporate clients. Douglas is also a key member of SAC’c Rural Policy Centre which, as well as interpreting policy impacts, aims to inform policy makers.
Since the first major shake-up of the CAP in 1993, Douglas has taken a special interest in EU Agricultural Reforms, their impact on individual businesses and the industry as a whole. He was heavily involved in the implementation of the 2003 CAP Reforms in Scotland, including the allocation of SFP entitlement, the operation of the National Reserve and the subsequent appeals process. He is a member of a number of Scottish Government stakeholder groups.
Douglas is an FBAASS registered business consultant, an experienced trainer and Lantra accredited facilitator.
JIM DRYSDALE
Jim is a partner in the Land Resources and Private Client departments of Anderson Strathern.
He is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in agricultural law and holds a Certificate in Environmental Law from Glasgow University. He is a Trustee of several family trusts and through them is involved in various family businesses.
Jim deals in all aspects of Agricultural and Rural law, including business structures, purchases, sales, leasing, forestry, salmon fisheries and sportings, land use and management including diversification, development and minerals, renewable energy, wind and hydro, and coalbed methane gas.
DR CALUM MCLEOD
Dr Calum Macleod is Deputy Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College UHI. His main research interests focus on sustainable crofting communities, community land ownership and the management of outdoor access. Recent research includes post-legislative scrutiny of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 conducted on behalf of the Scottish Parliament.
DEREK FLYNN
LLB WS FSAScot
Derek retired from Macleod & MacCallum, Inverness, in 2008 after thirty years in legal practice. He was co-author of Crofting Law (1990) and co-founded the Crofting Law Group in 1994.
He now consults on crofting matters throughout the Highlands and Islands and is a Board Member of the Scottish Crofting Federation.
ANDY WIGHTMAN
Andy Wightman is an independent writer and researcher on issues of land and democracy with a particular interest in community land rights. He provided evidence to the Scottish Parliament in the legislative process leading to the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. He is the author of Who Owns Scotland and The Poor had no Lawyers and a regular speaker at events.
NIGEL MILLER
President of NFU Scotland
Nigel farms 1200 acres in partnership with two of his sons in the Scottish Borders. The upland hill farm supports 170 cows and 800 breeding ewes. Traditional beef breeds are the basis of the beef enterprise. Aberdeen Angus cross steers are sold through the auction ring with heifers being marketed privately for bulling. The sheep flock is founded on Lairg type Cheviots. Nigel, a former vet, started his NFU Scotland career as Chairman of the West Berwick Branch and is a past Chairman of the Livestock Committee. Nigel was Vice-President from March 2007 and elected President in February 2011.
NICK REITER
Before becoming Chief Executive of the Crofters Commission, Nick was Director of the Deer Commission for Scotland. Other posts have included Chief Executive of Shetland Islands Council, Head of Policy with the Highland Council, Director of Environmental Services with Ross & Cromarty District Council, Head of Policy with Westminster City Council and a number of posts in Whitehall departments.
ROBERT SUTHERLAND
Robert Sutherland is an advocate at Terra Firma Chambers where he specialises in property, planning and administrative law. He is particularly well known for dealing with issues affecting rural property, and has a Band 1 ranking in Chambers UK for his agricultural holdings law practice. He is also a Director of Scottish Legal News.
MALCOLM COMBE
Malcolm Combe joined the School of Law at the University of Aberdeen following a period as a solicitor in private practice, during which time he spent eight months on secondment to the investment arm of a FTSE 100 company. He previously tutored on a part-time basis at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen. His research interests include property law (particularly land reform) and commercial law.
NIAL GEMMELL
Nial is a career banker and has enjoyed a wide ranging career in the industry. Over the last twelve years Nial has built up experience of sourcing, structuring and delivering complex debt and equity solutions for a range of infrastructure and renewable energy projects. Nial joined Barclays in January 2007 with a primary focus on developing the Bank’s project and infrastructure finance offering in Scotland. Nial leads a small team of within Scotland and looks after a portfolio of 14 project finance assets across a range of sectors including transport, health, education and renewable energy. The team has recently provided finance to AES Wind Generation for the 29MW wind farm at Drone Hill in the Scottish borders.
ELAINE FARQUHARSON-BLACK
Elaine heads up the Planning Division at Paull & Williamsons LLP and is a member of the firm’s Renewable Energy Group. She is an accredited Planning Law specialist and is ranked joint first in her field in Scotland by Chambers UK – A Client’s Guide to the Legal Profession. Elaine is co-author of Scottish Planning Law & Procedure and Compulsory Purchase and Compensation: The Law in Scotland.
ANITA RØNNE
ANITA RØNNE is Associate Professor in Energy Law, University of Copenhagen. She holds the Chair of the Danish Energy Law Society and is appointed as Chairman of the Valuation Committee under the Law of Renewables. She is a member and former chairman of the Academic Advisory Group, SEERIL, International Bar Association. She has administrative experience from the Danish Ministry of Energy and as consultant under EU Commission and World Bank secondment.
Bob Reid has been a Town and Country Planner for over 30 years. He is a Master of Civic Design & BA (Hons) in Geography (Liverpool University). He has worked in all aspects of planning, from new towns, through local planning in Glasgow’s East End to development management in Glasgow City Centre. He moved NE in 1992 and worked for Grampian Region, then Aberdeen City Council. In 2002 he became Head of Planning in Aberdeen. Since 2004 he has been Director of Planning at Halliday Fraser Munro and has been involved in a wide range of consultancy work across the whole of Scotland, in England and Northern Ireland. He is Convenor Elect of the Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland.
SALLY THOMAS
Sally is head of the Land Use and Natural Environment Team at the Scottish Government. The team has responsibility for taking forward the implementation of Scotland’s first Land Use Strategy. Sally led the team which developed the Strategy from the commitment in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 through to publication in March 2011. She is a Chartered Town Planner and worked in local government as a policy planner for a number of years before joining the Civil Service in 1999. Following a number of civil service posts covering policy areas such as private finance initiatives, maritime state aids, sustainable transport, tax and pensions, Sally joined the then Environment Division in 2005. Since then she has taken forward the implementation of Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, had policy responsibility for natural heritage protected areas, taken forward landscape policy and worked to develop the landscape and access components of the SRDP.
TOM HARDIE
Tom Hardie has over 35 years experience in Town and Country Planning. He has worked for local authorities, in Higher Education and as a civil servant, including a year in Brussels working for the European Commission as a national expert responsible for Community Initiatives and the programme to support sustainable development across the EU.
He currently runs Hardie Planning Consultancy, an independent town and country planning consultancy.
Born and brought up on a mixed farm in Aberdeenshire, David joined the international drinks industry and initially looked after spirits sales in Latin American and European markets before switching into the beer sector. Prior to leaving the industry in 1996, David launched Foster’s Lager in Central and Southern Europe, before returning with his French wife, Noëlle, to Fetternear Estate in Aberdeenshire in order to sort out the farm and prepare plans for the restoration of the estate’s historic buildings and infrastructure.
Since returning to Fetternear, David has been taking forward ongoing diversification plans, including the development of Scotland’s first Rural Business Centre. The arable land is farmed very effectively via a contract farming arrangement with Co-operative Farms and the grazing is leased out to local livestock farmers.
David and his family welcome some 6,000 people to Fetternear every year and actively encourage responsible access for the local and wider community. As well as his Scottish Land & Estates involvement, David sat on the Rural Development Council and is a land manager representative on the Aberdeenshire Local Access Forum. He spent some time helping the Scottish Executive Planners develop their planning guidelines for rural development in Scotland (SPP15), published in 2005.
He is particularly interested in the development of wider rural business opportunities in Scotland and a practical, joined-up approach to business, housing and community development.
MURRAY FERGUSON
Murray grew up in Deeside in NE Scotland and studied Geography and Rural Resource Management in Aberdeen. Work as a Countryside Ranger/ Reserve Warden, and then Recreation Policy Officer with Nature Conservancy Council, led on several front line jobs with Scottish Natural Heritage. In mid 1990s Murray ‘escaped’ for almost three years to work in the Bolivian Andes with a community-based organisation on soil erosion control, environmental learning and sustainable agriculture. Murray returned to Scotland just when Scottish Government started thinking about National Parks and, from 1997, he led SNH’s work on the formation of the Cairngorms National Park. Since 2004 Murray has worked with the National Park Authority and is now Director of Sustainable Rural Development, living in Inverness.
JOHN A. LOVETT
Professor of Law, Loyola Univeristy New Orleans College of Law
Professor Lovett received his J.D. in 1995 from Tulane Law School and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1991. He joined the Loyola law faculty in 2002, after five years in practice with the New Orleans law firm of Liskow & Lewis and judicial clerkships with the United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, and the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has chaired the Property Section of the American Association of Law Schools, served as contributing editor to the ABA journal, Probate and Property, and next year will be chair-elect of the Real Estate Transactions Section of the American Association of Law Schools. In the fall of 2009, Professor Lovett was a McCormick Fellow at the University of Edinburgh Law School. His teaching and research focuses on property law in common, civil and mixed jurisdictions. He has published several book chapters and numerous law review articles in journals such as the Nebraska Law Review, Tennessee Law Review, Missouri Law Review, Connecticut Law Review, Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce, Edinburgh Law Review, Stellenbosch Law Review, Louisiana Law Review, Loyola Law Review and Tulane Law Review.
ODELL MILNE
Partner, Brodies LLP
Head of Brodies’ Agriculture and Estates Team since 2007, Odell specialises in all aspects of rural property law including agricultural tenancies, crofting, farming, environmental and conservation, land reform, diversification, mineral agreements, development land sales, sporting and fishing, general estate work, wind farms and hydro systems. She is accredited as a specialist in agricultural law by the Law Society of Scotland.
STUART GALE
Stuart Gale was called to the Bar in 1980. He has degrees in law from the University of Dundee and Tulane University, New Orleans. He took silk in 1993. His first involvement in planning work was as junior counsel in the inquiry into what became the Gyle Centre in Edinburgh. Since then he has specialised in planning and environmental work acting in inquiries as diverse as those involving the application to clean the stone of the Scott Monument to the Glasgow Airport Rail Link. Most recently he acted for the objectors to the Aberdeen Bypass. He has also acted in a number of major judicial reviews and statutory appeals, most notably the oft-quoted City of Edinburgh Council –v- Secretary of State for Scotland 1998 SC (HL) 33. He is a senior and founder member of Terra Firma Chambers.