Forest expert to back crofter in feud with celebrity laird

One of the world's foremost forestry experts will this week warn that Sir Cameron Mackintosh's controversial plans for his remote Highland estate risk damaging a unique and ancient woodland that has lain undisturbed for centuries.

• Nevis Estate is owned by Sir Cameron Mackintosh

Tony Kirkham, the head of the Kew Gardens arboretum, is to give evidence in a long-running court case and will say that the theatre impresario's plans for a new cottage and bunk house will interfere with slow-growing elms, oaks and ash, which are specially adapted to the harsh weather conditions on the land overlooking Loch Morar.

Mr Kirkham, who has starred in two BBC television series, will appear at the Scottish Land Court in a dispute between Sir Cameron and octogenarian crofter Donald Cameron, who claims that the plans are preventing him from buying out the croft his family have farmed for generations. The hearing, in Fort William, is the latest round in a legal saga that has been going for more than ten years.

Sir Cameron, 64, laird of the Nevis Estate, is seeking to reclaim 30 acres of Mr Cameron's plot for a woodland regeneration scheme it says is necessary to protect the landscape and promote tourism.

Mr Cameron says the disputed patch is the only viable grazing area for his 300 ewes, eight tups and 80 hogs, and that the proposals would end his family's existence as crofters. The former Commando, a widower who still bears the scars of his service at Arnhem in 1944, has refused offers of money from the producer of Cats, Miss Saigon and Les Miserables to move from the land.

Instead, he has responded by attempting to use land reform laws that give tenants the right to buy their croft from the landowner.

When Mr Cameron refused to move, the Nevis Estate attempted to challenge his status as a crofter. Mr Cameron, 87, responded by launching his "right to buy" claim.

This week Mr Kirkham will give evidence for Mr Cameron's legal team and will express concern that the regeneration plans could damage the integrity of the ancient forest – claims that are denied by Sir Cameron.

Sir Cameron hopes to build the bunk house in the grounds of the ruins of an old deer-watcher's cottage that was built in the early 1800s and abandoned 100 years later."I'm not wearing my Kew hat for this," said Mr Kirkham. "It is something that I'm doing as a separate entity. I have been up to have a look at the woodlands at various points over the last four or five years. I shall be giving my views and what I think about it.

"It is an ancient woodland, it is a natural woodland and it is in very good condition. They are very old and slow-growing trees that are adapted to harsh weather conditions."

Andrew Aitchison, Sir Cameron's land agent, said: "We have our own woodland expert, who will be going to the land court for us, who doesn't share Mr Kirkham's concerns. Our proposals do not require any trees to be removed, so it won't affect the ecological value of the land at all."