WITH its white sandy beaches, sweet smelling and colourful machair and peaceful communities strung out along the only main road it is undoubtedly one of Scotland’s most tranquil places.

But a bitter row has erupted on South Uist with locals becoming increasingly angry at the way their community-owned island is run and includes a dispute over rights to the abundant seaweed on its shores.

It was the largest community-buy-out in Scottish history and saw 93,000 acres of South Uist, neighbouring Benbecula and Eriskay bought by the community for £4.6 million.

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However, it has culminated in more than 200 islanders demanding the resignation of the board and has also seen the chairman being voted down, which he has legally challenged.

Islanders also failed to halt a controversial plan to licence seaweed extraction to a commercial company with many crofters fearing they will lose their traditional practice of collecting seaweed to fertilise crops.

Critics say the disputes highlight the problems of large-scale community buy-outs in which the local management board has to juggle the needs of locals with the very real need to run it as a going concern and invest. On South Uist, a four hour long extraordinary general meeting in the village hall in Daliburgh on Tuesday night, the islands management board, Stòras Uibhist, was repeatedly accused by locals that it lacked openness, transparency and acts more like a private estate company.

The meeting was organised by Rory McGillivray, who is one of seven directors elected by islanders onto Sealladh na Beinne Mòire, the corporate parent of the community landlord.

Mr MacGillivray maintains directors are being kept in the dark and warned: “Community trust and confidence that Stòras can deliver a better future would appear to be at an all time low.”

“There is a clear breakdown in relationships between the community and Stòras” which behaves more like a privately owned company than a community body”.

But Stòras Uibhist chief executive Ian Paterson denied the secrecy allegations and claimed the board “sets the top-level strategic vision and direction for the company and the staff deliver the operational implementation of the strategy” and report back to the board.

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He also added that body is “in a strong trading position,” with nearly £340,000 in the bank which they are planning to invest in “new ambitious” developments.

It is a scenario mirrored across the country with several of Scotland’s highest-profile community buyouts under severe financial pressure.

Land reform laws introduced in 2003 give communities first refusal if their estate is put up for sale.

But many of the schemes, which have been hailed as the crowning achievement of the country’s land reform policies, are struggling to balance the books are reliant on funding from the taxpayer.

Hardest hit is the Assynt Foundation, which bought 44,000 acres in Sutherland in 2005.

Accounts for 2016/17 show the project is struggling to stay afloat, with auditors warning there is ‘significant doubt’ over its future. The West Coast islands of Eigg and Gigha, and the Pairc estate on Lewis, also face problems.

Critics are now warning the land reform movement, which is being backed by millions of pounds of public cash, is in need of urgent review.

Matt Kilcoyne, of the free market think-tank the Adam Smith Institute, said: “When South Uist residents bought their islands over a decade ago they paid the £4.5m fee using over £4m of lottery money and public grants. And it’s been a similar tale across most buyouts.

“The debts they and other groups on islands like Gigha have run up are still outstanding. Who will pay? Will it be the residents that created the bill? Or will it fall on new private owners, or even taxpayers as politicians look to save face on a flagship scheme?

“Forcing farmers and private estate holders to hand over their land for political reasons has had the same effect in Scotland as it has wherever private property rights have been undermined.

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“Less efficient farms and estates, and huge new debts as those out of their depth take charge.

“Private owners should be able to freely exchange their holdings to those that can comfortably afford their outgoings without the Scottish Government taking money from the likes of glaziers in Granton or nurses in Nitshill to pay for their vanity projects.”