Parkswatch has, since the camping byelaws came into force on 1st March, documented how the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Park is trying to force campers into areas totally unsuitable for camping. Relatively little coverage has been given to how the LLTNPA is managing the permit areas which are being used by campers. Last Saturday, as part of a walk over hills east of Ben Vorlich, four of us walked through the South Loch Earn camping permit zone, the largest in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. It provided plenty of evidence of the incoherent thinking behind the camping management zones.
The first thing that struck me was that people were enjoying themselves, despite the biting wind. Yes, there were a few beer bottles out – we were offered a couple after helping a child to swing from an old rope hanging off an oak tree – but people were fishing, using their ingenuity and natural materials to construct shelters, socialising, cooking on the camp fire, foraging for wood (a criminal offence now under the byelaws), taking a short walk up into the woods to find a place to have a crap, out for walks. Lots of families, not just adults, many of whom had been coming for years, giving lie to the Park’s claim that the byelaws were needed to encourage families back to the lochshores. Examples of connecting with nature in way that is just not possible for most people in their day to day lives.
The contrast with the sanitised environment of the Loch Earn Leisure Park which sits between the camping management zone and St Fillans was striking. Now, I am not disputing caravan parks meet a demand – the Leisure Park is enormous and it would appear more people go there than to camp – but in terms of connecting with nature, what offers the better experience, staying in a chalet or camping by the loch shore? What has the bigger impact on the landscape – the suburban style chalets or the tents on the loch shore whose presence is temporary (even if abandoned)?
Whatever the LLTNPA may have claimed in the past about roadside camping not being wild camping, the campers on south Loch Earn were out enjoying nature in a way that is just not possible in a chalet park. This surely should be at the centre of what our National Parks should be about – “connecting people with nature” – but in the whole development of the camping byelaws the LLTNPA never once articulated the value of camping by the lochsides. If it had done so, it would have wanted to encourage more people to camp, instead of trying to restrict numbers and confine campers to a few permit areas.
South Loch Earn is the only extensive permit zone the LLTNPA has created (all the others are very restricted) and the only place therefore where camping could carry on anything like it did previously with people turning up and having a wide choice of places to camp. Its therefore atypical.
The reason for this became clear from discussions with campers. Many have been coming for years – there would have been a riot if the LLTNPA had tried to ban them – and the Ardvorlich Estate appears to support their presence, not least because of the income it derives from fishing permits. Hence, the LLTNPA had very little choice but to allow camping to continue here.
The enforcement of camping permits
We talked to some campers who had been advised by the estate to buy permits beforehand and others who had just turned up, and bought a permit online when requested to do so by Rangers. Most saw £3 a night as a small price to pay to be able to continue to camp as they had done previously. The big issue I believe will arise on popular weekends when 100 tents turn up, most of whom will be regular visitors, in a zone where the Park has allocated places for 38 tents (this is an arbitrary figure decided by Park staff). I don’t envy the Rangers who are tasked with sending these people away. The LLTNPA is going to have to work very hard indeed if its going to turn people who have been lucky enough to get a permit against those who haven’t.
The bureaucracy and cost of enforcing the camping byelaws was only too apparent on our visit. We heard from the campers that there had been one round of Ranger visits in the morning to check permits – that’s when some people applied for them online. The campers had then received a visit from the water bailiff, checking that those fishing had fishing permits. Then, late in the afternoon, the Rangers visited again.
We watched them for a time, referring to note books after getting out their vehicle and then walking down to each tent to ask campers for their permit. They appeared to be having long conversations with campers and I would say it took 5-10 minutes to check each tent. Now I don’t know what the Rangers were saying because the LLTNPA have refused to provide me with what they have briefed rangers to do stating this would prejudice enforcement of the camping byelaws:
“Release of this information is likely to have a negative impact on the ability of the Rangers to perform an effective role in working with the police, interacting with the public and, where required, submitting byelaw contravention reports” (see EIR 2017-029 Response)
What is 100% clear though is that the new permit system has resulted in three check up visits in one day for people who go to camp to escape from the rules and regulations of everyday life! An intrusion into our freedom to enjoy the outdoors, an attempt to bureaucratise the experience in the name of social control. The costs are enormous – for whose benefit is this? Where will it go next?
While people may be buying permits when requested, its quite clear that the permit are having little impact on either the quality of the environment or the behaviour of campers.
At the St Fillans end of the zone, there was a significant amount of rubbish which has been blown against the boundary fence. We got talking to the people camping there – they had been coming for 12 years – and they told us the area had been like that before they arrived. What this highlighted is that the introduction of camping management zones is not going to do anything to reduce the amount of litter along the loch shores unless there is actually someone employed by the LLTNPA to pick it up.
Unlike other Council areas within the National Park, Perth and Kinross provide bins the whole way along the road and they are well used – and not just by visitors. As a result the Loch Earn shoreline has far less litter than other areas in the National Park.
Where litter is dropped though – whether by visitors, residents, people passing through or campers – it appears the LLTNPA Rangers are not picking it up – and from I previously established from talking to them is they are not allowed to put litter in vans. This has three consequences. First, its unlikely that the permits will have much impact on litter in the Park – the only thing it might prevent is people who have applied for a permit abandoning their campsites as they can be traced. This however was only a tiny part of the problem.
Second, the permit system does not help identify the sources of other litter along the loch shores, much of which does not come from campers, so will do nothing to prevent it. Third, the sensible solution to all of this would be for Rangers to get their hands dirty, set a lead – and invite campers to help them to clean up the lochshores. Whether people will do this now they are being forced to pay is less certain: if people are paying for a permit they have the right to expect the LLTNPA ensures the area is clean before they arrive.
During our visit we saw plenty of evidence to show that the Rangers at present are failing to enforce the terms and conditions associated with the camping permits. Among the camping permit terms and conditions, breach of which is a further criminal offence with fine of up to £500, are the following:
- Ancillary items must be kept to a minimum and limited to items reasonably necessary in connection with recreational camping activities; e.g.toilet tents, gazebo, fire bowl/bbq
- The total area occupied by your tent and ancillary items must not exceed 5 m x 5m
The toilet tent in the above photo is allowed under the permit system but it and the tent occupy an area greater than 5 x 5 square metres, the maximum allowed by the Park. So, a criminal offence committed but it appears the Rangers have done nothing to prevent this. One cannot blame them – what a stupid rule! Who would want to sleep right next door to the toilet tent?
The daft rules associated with the permits are also illustrated by the photo which featured at the top of this post and shows a shelter hanging between two trees (again, with the tent, occupying an area greater than 5m x 5m). Now, under the byelaws, while the public can put up a shelter during the day, its an offence to leave one up overnight unless its an umbrella. So, will these campers be told to take the shelter down each night? The rules are daft – an inevitable consequence I believe of trying to control every aspect of campers behaviour rather than leaving people with the right to make their own decisions.
Contrast the stultification of the Park bureaucracy with the ingenuity of campers making use of natural materials.
The most obvious failure in terms of enforcement however were campfires (as in photos above), which were everywhere, and in a number of cases clearly breached the byelaws.
While a number of campers had brought their own wood, others were collecting it locally – an offence under the byelaws. Whether they were doing harm of course is another matter – there were large amounts of wood available in the plantations above the road – and the estate had been busy chopping down trees. People were carrying felled off-cuts back down to the shore to burn.
Now, I believe the way the provisions of the byelaws in respect of fires – collection of wood is an offence – is both wrong and is well nigh impossible for Rangers to enforce. As a society do we really want to criminalise an eight year old who collects a twig to add to a fire on which they are cooking or to prosecute an adult who has picked up a log to burn (both of which we saw happening)? The focus of the LLTNPA should be on preventing live wood being felled for fires – otherwise Rangers are being given an impossible task.
The basic problem on Loch Earn at present is not the quantity of dead wood – lots has been felled – but rather what wood the estate is happy for campers to use and what not. There are no messages about this and as a result people forage. To ensure damage is not done inadvertently or wood, intended for another purpose, is not burned, the solution is surely for the LLTNPA to provide wood to people who want it for a small price. Indeed, under the original Five Lochs Management Plan the idea was to provide wood stores at campsites, a proposal that has since disappeared without trace. It would be far better use of Rangers time to spend a small portion of it providing wood to campers than checking up on permits.
The real failure in enforcement
When I am kayaking for 2 or 3 days and it get dark my life is now in danger on Loch Lomond . crossing from the East side in the dark two wild camp on the other side speeding boat don’t see me .I don’t know when I am going
So I don’t book and why should I Also I don’t want two use camp sites why would I want two I am wild camping .
Wild campers dont leave any trace but for a small fire .Making large fires is two much hard work big fires and rubbish left are from day trippers .that can be stopped using the police .If the LLTNPA really cared about loch lomond why did they aloud the walabs to be killed .if they had loch lomond in England the walabs would have being a tourist attractions with a restaurant tea room etc I will now be voting SNP out of existence for taking my rights away
I was planning to camp next weekend for the first time in loch earn in a good few years,after reading this I will be going elsewhere,I am a 53 year old seasoned camper and fisher and ALWAYS leave any site how I found it! Buy my fishing permit in the area and breakfast in local hostiliarys! I was always under the impression that there were no trespass laws in Scotland and we were free to camp and enjoy our countryside and scenery! Rather appalled that our country is now turning both its own and tourists away from such a beautiful area,
Unless you’re
getting married
From abroad
A second home owner
A luxury b&b owner
Fancy oh ya local venison brigade
Helicopter flying boat squad
Please stay in your own areas or risk being shot(llatnp 2025)
I think it’s shocking that people should have to pay to camp and have to be cramped into the one area on a loch the size of loch earn, also I noticed signs saying no alcohol 500.00 fine, I have been camping for years and enjoyed having a drink next to the water, nothing more relaxing after a long hard week at work and I always take all my rubbish home.
Thanks Billy, I think the no alcohol signs are new. I used to think alcohol bans were more justified than camping but now think this is another case of social injustice as there are already all the laws we need to deal with drunk and disorderly behaviour in public. It creates two classes of visitor to the countryside, those who book hotels and holiday lodges who can drink all they want and campers who cannot even enjoy a glass over looking the lochside
loch earn has been ruined by louts and clowns who have no respect for the area at all.they take as much drink as they can carry go up there at the weekends in packs cut down the trees leave plastic items all over the place empty bottles/ cans/ food trays/ food tins / left all over the place a slow weekend shock to the beautiful environment which has become a place of partying loud noise music blaring fighting and on a Monday morning the poor park rangers have to clean it all up and then a repeat of the previous weekend happens all over again .i have been a visitor to the area for many years and have watched the slow demise of the area .lets smell the coco beans the people who have left messages here i am sure are good honest people who respect the area with i believe passion like myself .something had to be done it was getting out of hand and if you witnessed it and are honest i am sure you will agree the shores of lochearn need to heal and a suitable and sufficient monitoring system had to be put in place its easy to see why.PS This is another classic case of the stupidity of a few spoil it for the many
The park rangers do not pick up any rubbish .they have now contracted a company to go round after the camping zones and emptying bins and picking up mess….do what is a park rangers roll now .is it just driving endlessly round the lochs picking on old people fishing with a wee brolly shelter …I had a large group of bampots next to me over the bank holiday ..and the rangers drove right passed them .they were camping without a permit ..they didn’t even no what one was …..
When the lochs are busy the Rangers don’t seem to stop and check camping permits where there are lots of tents, instead pick off the lone campers , it’s more likely that in the large numbers there will be people who have not purchased a permit , I know this as I have spoken to campers who don’t purchase a permits .
It’s because they are afraid the large groups xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthey like to pick on lone campers it’s something to do with xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I’ve been fishing Loch Earn for over 35 years. I’ve seen a lot of changes. I’ve even had my own boat on the Loch for a few years. When out on the boat, mine own or Drummond fisheries, I’ve been shot at with pellet guns, had stones threw at me, abuse and threatened more often than not. All this while we are over three times farther out than anyone could ever cast. Very respectful of the bank fishers. I’ve seen them chopping down trees with axes. I even heard a chainsaw once. I’ve seen them pull out fence posts. Music that can be heard from the other side of the loch. I’ve seen fires that have made bonfire night seem tame. Some parts of the South shore had all the trees cut down which left it bare. I’ve seen piles of rubbish that would make you think the bin men were on strike.
I am not saying that all people who fish and camp do these things. Most are very tidy and respectful. They leave the place as they found it. The North shore seems to be much better behaved. What I am saying is that something had to be done and still needs to be sorted. Once these people are made to feel unwelcome and go somewhere else ( sorry for some where else) maybe then can real campers and fishers be able to enjoy the Loch as it should be.
Hi Kenny, I totally agree there was/is an issue with antisocial behaviour from a few people fishing but there was already a mechanism to deal with this through fishing permits and the water bailiffs who police this – and have far more powers than Park Rangers. The people who chopped down trees should first have been prosecuted and second banned from ever being issued with a fishing permit again. Would that not have solved most of the problems without new byelaws? A fundamental agreement which formed the foundation of access rights was that the existing law was sufficient to deal with serious problems and that the way to deal with people who unwittingly did the wrong thing was through education, the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. The problem is the Park has never understood or accepted this
The “pity for somewhere else” is already becoming a worrying issue further north. It is so hard to point fingers….
Organised adventure tours using Canadian canoes have operated for years now. A 3 day paddle route along Loch Shiel ( West Lochaber) to the sea has become popular. The success has alerted other private paddlers to the wonderful free camp experiences possible while pottering about through this area.
Once overnight campers move on it is virtually impossible to pin blame. Locally, there can be no effective monitoring of the numbers and composition of groups who make this transit commercially. No way of indentifying leisure paddlers is viable. Only those who use the loch and paths around it regularly will ever notice.
It is sad to report that bags of empty beer bottles and food tins are now to be found stuffed out of sight into tree roots. More visible to passing boats are weird glistening patches – half melted single use plastic from bottles and food wrappings, some patches firmly glued now sprouting wires from burned tyres, all now bonding beach gravel into a coagulated mass for all time.
As a former adventure tour leader I knew how I would deal with anyone I found doing this, years ago. ( Litter picking till dusk !) But there is no authority for any member of the general public to voluntarily “police” this. All ‘public interest’ can hope to do is film what they find ,tidy it up, and then perhaps “Moan” hopelessly about the violation of “civic” trust on social media.
Bin fishing there for over 30 years fink the new tent permit is an absolute joke and if they must charge u more why not put the cost onto a fishing permit then collect from them instead of harrasing ppl for money was stopped last year they asked me to pay online lol in the middle of nowhere didnt have reception didmt know about the tent permit offerd to pay cash they said they cldnt accept cash why not just get a receipt book so anyway nxt thing police turn up and harass me then tell me i will b reported to procurater fiscal because of a 3 pound tent permit i meen is this what scotland has come to why not get rid of all the louts that go up there and make good use of ure time instead of harrassing ppl just geting away fishing after working all week
Can someone please explain in a nutshell what the deal is with camping at lochearnhead? I’ve camped there for years only missing out the last 2 years. Planning on going in the morning with the wee man if I buy a permit can I still camp and go fishing when I find a suitable spot around the loch? Thanks
Hi James, the entire shore of Lochearnhead is a camping management zone where camping is banned except in the permit areas. There are a number of specific permit areas and you can only buy a permit for a particular area and need to be able to find a suitable spot in that – the best spots of course may well be taken. Fishing permits are totally separate to this. If you have a campervan or caravan you can stop off and stay overnight outwith the permit areas as long as you are not breaching any road traffic laws.
Honestly I’ve been wild camping for years, its my get away from everything and I frequently travel around Scotland by foot always on the look out for new places to go. I’ve got a friend coming to stay for a couple of weeks and we were talking about camping. He also wanted to see about using his kayak so I though why not find a loch we can camp and go kayaking as well and thought oh wow Loch Earn sounds like a good shout. Sure we might have to pay a £3/4 permit per day but its a small price for peace. After reading this I’m not going anywhere near that circus that is “permitted camping zones” I camp to get away from folks and get back to nature, the idea of being told where you can “wild” camp is ludicrous. The last thing I want is to be crammed into a zone with other folk, be told I can’t gather wood and have rangers visiting my tent 2/3 times a day. Completely destroys the reason for wild camping, seems like a lot of places took the initiative to punish wild campers after the idiots during lock down and the larger companies like Peebles hydro are more than happy to take advantage of it