The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) has called on the Crofting Commission to explain its "extraordinary" decision to sack the Upper Coll grazings committee in Lewis following a grievance raised against the convener.
SCF chief executive, Patrick Krause, said. “We are not in possession of all the facts that have led to the Crofting Commission taking the extraordinary step of dissolving a grazings committee, which is something unprecedented as far as I know.
"So SCF’s concern is directed towards the broader issue of what this says for decision-
Mr Krause continued: "On the face of it, this looks like an appalling attempt by the commission to nullify the complaint."
Crofting Federation condemns "autocratic" Crofting Commission
23 April 2016
"Whatever is actually behind their decision, it is a staggeringly clumsy exercise in public relations."
"We are struggling to maintain, and to form new, grazings committees as it is," he emphasised.
Mr Kruse added: "There appears to have been no transparency in attempts to resolve the conflict and it rings very loud warning bells of a return to the old Crofters Commission regime, which was regularly accused of operating on a similar autocratic basis. We very much hoped that we would never see this sort of behaviour again.
“A direction of such gravity must have been sanctioned by the commissioners themselves so we call on them to explain the action and to reassure crofters that they have acted in the democratic and impartial way expected of a public body.”