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New staff join growing Scottish Land Commission

Three new members of staff have joined the newly formed Scottish Land Commission.

Joining the growing organisation, which was officially established on the 1 April 2017, are Sarah Allen as Head of Policy & Research – Tenant Farming, Shona Glenn as Head of Policy & Research – Land and Sara Smith as Communications & Events Assistant.

Chair of the Scottish Land Commission, Andrew Thin, said:

“The Commissioners and I would like to welcome Sarah, Shona and Sara to the team. We are delighted to see the organisation growing and adding to the wealth of skills and knowledge the Commission has.

“Sarah and Shona have an extremely important role, working with the new Chief Executive, Hamish Trench, to develop the Commission’s programme of research and Codes of Practice. I look forward to working with Commissioners, staff and stakeholders to implement our three year Strategic Plan.

“This is an exciting time for the Land Commission and adding to our complement of staff will ensure we can successfully drive forward the land reform agenda.”

Sarah Allen, Head of Policy & Research – Tenant Farming

Sarah Allen has worked as a self-employed rural development consultant for several years including working on projects defining vulnerable areas in relation to less favoured area support, conducting a review of Argyll agricultural forum and developing a food and drink network. Sarah is also a retained agricultural consultant for the Highland Council providing input and advice on a range of farming and crofting issues.  Sarah was a member of the Crofters Commission Board for 7 years and subsequently chaired the Scottish Government’s review of the bull hire scheme.

Shona Glenn, Head of Policy & Research – Land

Shona is an economist with more than 10 years research experience spanning the public and private sectors. She joins the Scottish land Commission from Biggar Economics, an independent consultancy that works across the UK and Europe.  In the role she was responsible for carrying out socio-economic impact assessments for a wide range of developments ranging from wind farms to housing.  Prior to this Shona was part of the economic development team within the City of Edinburgh Council where she was responsible for monitoring the economic performance of the city centre and a programme of culture change to encourage greater collaboration between planners and developers.

Sara Smith, Communications & Events Assistant

Sara joins the Land Commission from a project support role at the Highland Council. Sara has extensive communications and events experience working in a number of different roles at the Cairngorms National Park Authority including Assistant Communications Officer and Project Management Support Officer.