In reply to Douglas Griffin:
I'm sorry I've come so late to this thread - it's a subject I feel strongly about (and work in a related field).
A few folk have raised questions about how the locals on Applecross feel about this situation. A fascinating blog, run by a local is at
http://applecrosslifeblog.wordpress.com (apologies if anyone has posted this link already) - it's well worth reading, and sheds some light on things.
Saor Alba, I definitely agree with your 1459 post. Wish there was a way to get round that unease folk feel when a system - even if it's structurally failing - is challenged. For me, reading Wightman's books (amongst others...) did it.
MJH, the rights of tenants on community-controlled estates are legally the same as they are on privately-owned estates. The advantage is that the management is closer, and more accountable, and has an interest in investing and creating stable conditions to encourage others to invest - conditions which frequently don't happen on estates owner by absentee landlords.
In fact, for anyone who can't quite see the reasons for land reform, I couldn't recommend enough reading Andy Wightman's book, The Poor Had No Lawyers:
http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Poor-Had-No-Lawyers--The-978184158960...
And demonstrating the wide range of positive benefits which flow to communities which have taken control of their land - as SA says, Gigha, Eigg, Knoydart etc, there's another excellent book by Jim Hunter
http://www.theislandsbooktrust.com/store/books/from-the-low-tide-of-the-sea...
cheerio