The Story of the Pairc Estate Community Buyout

In this book Dr Bob Chambers, a leading crofting historian, provides a painstaking and independent account of the famous Pairc community buyout – which has become a landmark case in the history of land reform in Scotland. Based on a dispassionate review of the evidence, he describes in detail the many challenges faced by the small Pairc crofting community in seeking to purchase their estate in a remote part of the island of Lewis. He sets out his own conclusions on the lessons to be learnt from this 13-years long but ultimately successful struggle – particularly for Government and other public sector agencies and for crofting communities throughout Scotland. This book will be of compelling interest for all those involved in land reform and to a much wider public, whose imagination will be captured by the story of how the Pairc community eventually managed to overcome all the many legal and financial hurdles which faced them.