Of registers of tartans, SSSIs, and crofts
Jamie McGrigor MSP's Scottish Register of Tartans Bill (see nos 608, 642, 674, and 676) was approved at Stage 1 by the Scottish Parliament on 19th June (without division) and now progresses to Stage 2.
The bill proposes that the register would be maintained by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland – preventing a clean sweep for the Registers of Scotland, which may soon be the home of the Register of Crofts (following the recommendation of the Committee of Inquiry on Crofting) and which at the end of June takes control of the Register of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (under s 22 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 – following The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2008 SSI 2008/193.
Reg 3 (1)(g) of the Register of Sites of Special Scientific Interest Regulations 2008 (SSI 2008/221) provides that the Register must contain the "list of acts or omissions as required by section 3(4)(a)(iii)" of the 2004 Act – which are the "acts or omissions which appear to [Scottish Natural Heritage] to be likely to damage that natural feature". It is currently not clear if such acts include the construction of golf courses (on which see 723, 732, 741, and 757).