Following my post on how “trespass” had reared its ugly head at Aviemore (see here), it has done so again in the Scottish Countryside Alliance’s rural crime survey (see here). The survey is due to close this weekend and the SCA states it intends to present the results to the Scottish Parliament before the…
Tag: access rights
On Saturday, I walked with friends up Lochnagar from the old Invercauld Bridge, through the Ballochbuie forest and then across the moor to scramble up the Stuic. Shortly after the start, at a junction, we came across this sign at the start of a road leading off to our right . While apparently intended to…
“Trespass” is a particularly loaded word. It comes from the Old French “trespasser” meaning “pass beyond or across, cross, traverse; infringe, violate”. In English it came to mean “transgress in some active manner, commit an aggressive offense, to sin” – as in “forgive us our trespasses” used in the Lord’s Prayer – but is also…
After my post last week (see here) on attempts to stop people exercising access rights post-Covid, I was sent these photos from Ledard Farm in Strathard. The Land Reform Act gave people the right to access fields with livestock and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code states this clearly: “Access rights extend to fields with farm…
Following the release of lockdown, I have come across far fewer no access signs in Scotland’s countryside compared to the aftermath of the Foot and Mouth crisis in 2001. The main impediments to access in areas like the east shore of Loch Lomond have been the closure of roads and car parks by Public Authorities…
The Dirty Camping debate in the Scottish Parliament On Wednesday, almost an hour after it was scheduled and after a very long day, MSPs started to debate Murdo Fraser’s motion on Dirty Camping (see here) at 6pm. Although the chamber appeared mostly empty, a number of MSPs contributed online and the debate went on until…
The Scottish Parliament this afternoon debates a motion (see here) by Murdo Fraser on Dirty Camping, just the second members’ debate since the start of the corona crisis. While the Scottish Parliament increasingly appears to have little real power, what is said today could still be very important for framing any debate on camping and campervanning…
In 2018 the Scottish Campaign for National Parks (I am on the Committee) carried out a review of Scotland’s Regional Parks (see here). In large part this was prompted because no-one else seemed concerned about what was happening or the lost potential. With Councils now pulling, or threatening to pull, their support for Clyde Muirshiel,…
Following my posts on how litter (see here) and traffic management issues (see here) are being used to attack access rights, Perth and Kinross Council has now gone further than even the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority has dared to do. The move could undermine access rights across Scotland. The comments on thei…
Since lockdown was relaxed, it seems hardly a day has gone past when there has not been some national media coverage claiming that visitors have been responsible for a wave of litter that is said to engulfing the countryside. In the vast majority of cases visitors have been condemned, abused even, sometimes by people purporting…
Yesterday, I was due to meet a few folk from Aberdeen and go for a walk around the eastern fringes of the Cairngorms National Park. With the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Granite City, that was clearly not sensible and we have re-arranged for a later date. The aborted trip, however, prompted me to take…
[Update: I had a phone call from Jahama Estates on 5th August to say all three signs referred to in this post and subsequent update have now been removed. I thanked them for this though my view remains the signs should never have been erected] I have just come back from a week in Lochaber,…
From an Outdoor Recreation and tourism standpoint, the one good thing about the Scottish Government’s latest announcements about how to manage the on-going risks from Covid-19 is that: “Evidence now shows the risk of outdoor infection is very low if people stay two metres apart”. The “now” is misleading. SAGE, the Scientific Advisory Group for…
My post last week on the Scottish Government’s guidance on travel for Outdoor Recreation .(see here) was re-posted, with my permission, on the UK Climbing and Hillwalking Forums and shared elsewhere. It received lots of comments and a fair amount of abuse. The abuse appears to have been founded on the view that anyone deciding…
On Saturday, I once again ignored Scottish Government guidance and drove 50 miles south from Glasgow to go walking in the Lowther Hills. I was doing nothing illegal and, unlike on Durisdeer last week (see here) where we saw two people, this time we saw nobody at all. These hills could have had a thousand…
Earlier this week one of parkswatch’s critical readers – a good thing! – posted a link to a BBC news piece (see here) about two hillwalkers who had been charged by the Police with “Culpable and Reckless Conduct” after being rescued on Beinn a Chroin near Crianlarich. Since then, there have been a number of…
In late 2018 the RSPB submitted a planning application to construct a new footpath at Ward’s Farm, part of the National Nature Reserve (NNR) at the south east corner of Loch Lomond (see here for the planning papers that remain public). Over 18 months later, on 25th May, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park…
When I heard that the First Minister was going to permit golf courses to open last weekend, without also opening up the rest of the countryside at the same time, I thought she had taken leave of her senses. Or had received some extremely bad advice. Surely it was absolutely obvious that this would create…
On Saturday, my partner and I drove 50 miles from Glasgow to go walking in the hills east of Durisdeer, off the A702 south of Abington. The decision to ignore the Scottish Government’s guidance to stay local and to go south was quite deliberate. I knew there would be far fewer people in the countryside…
Yesterday the Scottish Government formally announced its proposals for Phase 1 of its Route Map out of the Covid-19 lockdown. The proposals involve relaxing controls over activities that take place in the outdoors so long as people stay apart: working outdoors, meeting people outdoors and outdoor recreation. While parts of the guidance are excellent and…
I read, with mounting disbelief, the Scottish Government’s “route map” out of lockdown (see here). The fundamental human right of freedom of movement has been reduced to something called “getting around”. The advice – we have yet to see whether it can be enshrined in law – is that from next week people may drive…
This story, which appeared in the Guardian last Saturday, appears to have been placed by Police Scotland. It was headed by the quote – cut off in extract above – on the left. The article fails to answer the obvious question, why are the police saying “This is not the time to visit our areas…
Following on from Dave Morris post on 13-May, Right to roam and Covid – 19, down here in the Scottish Borders we’re increasingly seeing “no access” signs erected on gates along popular walking routes. Having walked these routes for thirty years, and never seen them before, I can only assume they are to discourage all…
I had been fairly pleased with my letter to the Herald until I watched, on Wednesday, the country that beat the virus on Channel 4. Recommended viewing if you have not seen it. South Korea, a country with a population of over 50 million, have not beaten the virus of course, but they are suppressing…
With lockdown in Scotland continuing for a while yet the opportunities for visiting our national parks will be limited for many people. So, as we focus more on local access, it is essential that everyone has a clear understanding of what those opportunities are, from front door and gate. Our “right to roam”, a term…