THE first hostile buy-out of an estate in Scotland has been given the go-ahead, with the local community granted the right to purchase land the owner does not want to sell. Environment minister Roseanna Cunningham yesterday paved the way for crofters to acquire the 26,800-acre Pairc Estate in Lewis. But the decision may yet face a legal challenge from Barry Lomas, the Warwickshire businessman whose family has owned the land since 1924. almost 400 people currently live on the estate, which has 11 crofting townships and 208 crofts spread over an area the size of Edinburgh. The Pairc Trust, the body seeking to buy the land on behalf of the community, first mooted a buy-out in 2004 but talks with Mr Lomas broke down. It later applied to acquire the estate using the Land Reform (Scotland) act 2003, which gives crofting communities the right to buy the land they croft and adjacent land whether or not the owner wishes to sell, if ministers approve. a decision on the buy-out has been awaited since October after a consultation on the move, and ministers had been accused of procrastination. But Ms Cunningham said yesterday that approval will now be followed by the appointment of an independent expert who will determine the market value of the land. The trust will t