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Case ref:201203653
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Date:June 2013
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Body:Highlands and Islands Enterprise
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Sector:Scottish Government and Devolved Administration
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Outcome:Not upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:policy/administration
Summary
Mr C complained that Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) unreasonably stated that they had an interest in an area of amenity land they were considering selling when, in his opinion, this was not the case. He was of the view that they claimed this in order to put the land on the open market and increase the value. He also felt that HIE unreasonably sold the land to a developer and so failed to protect the future amenity value of the land for the community.
We found that there was interest in the land from other parties and, as a result, HIE were correct in what they said. We also noted that the designation of land is a responsibility of the council and not HIE. We found that a decision not to attempt to try and control future use of the land through a no-development clause in the sale agreements was reasonable. As the actions take by HIE were reasonable, and as we found no evidence of administrative failure in the way they dealt with this matter, we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.