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Cat’s Ironing Service

Stornoway    703285

Pairc owner sends £ ¾ million bill to buyout body  3/6/10

The latest twist to the long-running saga of the local community’s attempt to buy the Pairc Estate in Lewis is the presentation of a fee note by Barry Lomas to the Pairc Trust – or failing them the Scottish Government – for expenses totalling £760,815.92.

The landlord wants the money for dealing with the community’s first application to purchase the estate dated May 2005.

Pairc Trust say the claim is based on the false assumption that the first application has been withdrawn.

The Trust submitted two further applications for the land plus the interposed windfarm lease in February 2010, but insists it has never withdrawn its original application to buy the land.

Pairc Trust chairman, Angus McDowall, said: “The landlord is now revealing his true colours. He claims to support community ownership yet petitioned the Court of Session in an unsuccessful attempt to disrupt the consultation process on our applications.

“Now he is trying to use his financial muscle to brow-beat the community by seeking to extort £760,000 in compensation from the Pairc Trust – who are only carrying out the wishes of the community in accordance with the legislation.”

Mr McDowall said that even if the bill was valid under the Land Reform Act it is excessive: “it makes some of the expenses claimed by MPs look extremely modest.”

“For example, it includes a fee payable to Barry Lomas himself of £434,930, personal travel costs of nearly £20,000, and hotel and meals costs of over £7,000.

“He has previously criticised the fact that the costs of Pairc Trust have been met by public money, yet is now seeking vastly greater sums himself. Nor of course does the Pairc Trust have such resources, so at least the landlord is correct in referring the matter to the Scottish Government.”

Mr McDowall added: “Mr Lomas could have saved himself a lot of money if he had not tried to frustrate the intentions of the Act and had been prepared to negotiate a realistic agreement with the community long ago. Now he has the gall to claim expenses several times greater than the value of the estate!

“The Pairc Trust will continue to pursue the community’s legitimate and clearly expressed aspirations to the best of our ability. We remain of the view that a negotiated settlement for the estate would be the best possible outcome.”