Cockburn Annual Lecture: Edinburgh’s Common Good Fund – use and abuse?

A Common Good Fund is a fund held by a local authority in Scotland, consisting of property that previously belonged to a burgh. The fund may include both movable property (money or objects) and heritable property (land and buildings), and is legally distinct from other assets owned by the local authority. The funds have their origins in the 11th century, when the first burghs were established by royal charters that granted them certain lands, rights and privileges. The Common Good Act 1491, which remains in force, required that this property “be observed and kept for the common good of the town”.

In Edinburgh, the Common Goods Register sets out what it in the Fund, which is extensive.  It includes places such as East and West Princes Street Gardens and the Meadows as well as all streets in the Old and New Towns, Portobello Promenade, “streets, ways and passages in Leith”, the Cramond foreshore and Calton Hill, to name but a few.

The 2022 Cockburn Annual Lecture will be delivered by Andrew Ferguson, a lawyer and author of Common Good Law (UoE Press).

He has 30 years of experience in legal and administrative roles in councils and other public bodies with specialisms in property, transportation and planning law, as well as governance.  He co-authored Local Planning Reviews in Scotland (Avizandum, 2015) and writes regularly on legal topics and give seminars and webinars on behalf of various providers including Central Law Training.

Free Members’ Event (ticket reservation required)