West Lothian Council Register of Common Good

Under the provisions of Part 8 (Section 102) of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, local authorities have an obligation to establish and maintain a register of property that is held by the authority as part of the "Common Good".

Common Good is property owned by a local authority which has been passed down, through local government reorganisation, from former burghs. Those burghs would have received it as a gift or purchased it. Although there is no statutory definition of Common Good property, it is described as deriving from three sources. These are the original grant, a decision of the Town Council itself or that the land had been used and enjoyed by the public since time immemorial. It can include land and buildings, and moveable items such as furniture and art. It may include cash where property has been sold and income received.

West Lothian has four former burghs, namely Armadale Burgh, Bathgate Burgh, Linlithgow Royal Burgh and Whitburn Burgh. 

When preparing a Common Good Register, local authorities have an obligation to publish a list of the property that it is proposing to include in the Register and to consult with community councils and community bodies on that list for a period of not less than twelve weeks. The ability to provide views and comments (make representations) before the Common Good Register is formally published ensures that community councils and other community bodies have an opportunity to make a case for property to be included in or excluded from the Register.

The consultation period has now ended and officers are currently reviewing existing representations. Due to the high number of representations received and the extensive investigative work required to fully consider those representations, it has not been possible for the council to respond to representations within the recommended 12 week timescale. Work is however ongoing with a view to completing this exercise as soon as practically possible.

Whilst the formal consolation period has now ended, the Council's Common Good register will continue to be a live document and any group or individuals wishing to discuss the register or to make representations should contact:

Scott Hughes (Asset Manager)
Property Services
West Lothian Council
West Lothian Civic Centre
Howden South Road
Livingston
EH54 6FF

All representations received by the council via the formal consultation process are published below (personal details have been dealt with in accordance with the council's data protection policy).

The final response(s) to representations will be published alongside the original representation(s) and once the Council has fully considered a representation, its decision will be final. The first version of West Lothian Councils Common Good Register can be found here  West Lothian Council Register of Common Good [272KB] . Investigations into representations received via the public consultation are ongoing and the register will continue to be updated on an ongoing basis as those investigations are completed.

Hard copies of the register are available from all Council Customer Information Service (CIS) Offices. Anyone requiring translation services or assistance with disabilities should make their needs known to a member of the CIS staff or email their requirements to PropertyManagement@westlothian.gov.uk