A Common Good Fund is a fund held by a local authority in Scotland, consisting of property that previously belonged to a

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

. The fund may include both movable property (money or objects) and

heritable property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affixe ...

(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 Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

, which remains in force, required that this property "be observed and kept for the common good of the town". The use and sale of Common Good is restricted by law, and the proceeds from these assets is retained in the relevant Common Good Fund. The income of a Common Good Fund is required to be used for the benefit of the inhabitants of the burgh to which they belong. Since re-structuring of local government in 1975 and again in 1996, it is often not clear which property now comprises the Common Good of the former burghs. The

Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. The act is notable for expanding the Community Right to Buy established by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to include urban communities and for introducing ne ...

required all council to establish and maintain a register of property which is held by the authority as part of the common good. According to land campaigner and former MSP

Andy Wightman Andrew Dearg Wightman is a Scottish Independent politician, who served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region from 2016 to 2021. He was elected as a member of the Scottish Greens, but resigned from the party in ...

there are 196 Common Good Funds across Scotland.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen's Common Good Fund is a fund to benefit the people of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was created as a result of Robert the Bruce granting the cities Great Charter in 1319, after they sheltered him during his days of outlaw. In 2005, the value of the fund was £31 million. Along with the Great Charter, Bruce gave Aberdeen the Forest of Stocket (now the

Mid Stocket Midstocket is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scotti ...

area of the city), in return for a yearly rent. As a result of the finances generated from the forest, the Common Good Fund was created to benefit the people of the city. Later, the lands of Cruvie (now Woodside) and

Rubislaw Rubislaw is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located in the area between Queen's Road and King’s Gate, including Rubislaw Den North and South. It is close to Rubislaw Quarry and the Rubislaw Playing Fields used by Aberdeen Grammar School. ...

were also granted to the people with the whole becoming known as the

Freedom Lands of Aberdeen The March Stones of Aberdeen are boundary marker stones encircling the land owned by the Scottish royal burgh, dating from before 1525. In the 1300s Robert the Bruce granted the Royal Burgh of Aberdeen unusually strong rights over the burgh its ...

. The fund helped to create Marischal College by giving land to

George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal (c. 1553–1623) was a Scottish nobleman and Earl Marischal. He succeeded as earl on 7 October 1581, upon the death of his grandfather, William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal. Early life George Keith was the so ...

to help him build the institution; it helped the people during the 1640 plague and also gave funds to Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Central Library, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the purchase of Hazlehead Park. In recent times it has been used to provide the elderly with tea dances and a festival for older people. It is also used to help charity as has been a substantial contributor to the Instant Neighbour Trust in the past.

References

History of Aberdeen Economy of Aberdeen Local government in Scotland Burghs {{Aberdeen-stub