The radical land reformer and author Andy Wightman will be coming to the Stirling Smith Gallery on 10. March to talk about Scotland's turbulent history of land and power, brought to life in his new book, “The Poor Had No Lawyers”. A renowned public speaker, Andy will be uncovering answers to questions such as... Who owns Scotland, and how did they get it? What happened to all the common land in Scotland and how can we get it back? How can the Scottish Parliament make a difference? In particular, his new book focuses on a number of current land issues in Stirling and Dunblane where he has discovered how Stirling Council failed to properly account for common good land held by citizens, as well as illuminating the debacle over golf club land at King's Park. The event is being organised by Stirling Green Party who will be focusing on the need for land reform in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections. Andy Wightman said, "I am delighted to be speaking in Stirling and to share with residents in the area my ideas on how to restore and protect community land rights. “For too long, local people have had too little say in how common land and property is managed and much has been lost due to inadequate oversight by successive councils. Stronger local democracy is vital for the restoration of civic pride and local opportunities to take control of more community assets." Former Green MSP Mark Ruskell said, "Andy is an inspirational speaker and has been a great help to a number of communities in the Stirling area over the years as they have attempted to unpick the mis-management of land over decades by the Council. I'm sure the event will spark some strong debate of the kind we really need to engage people of all political persuasions ahead of the Holyrood elections.” Stirling and Clackmannanshire Greens Local events