The right to roam: The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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The "Right to roam Act" Scotland is IMO one of the worst and ill thought out acts ever to reach the statute books, barely a week goes by without stories of it being abused ..

The “right to roam” under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force on 9 February 2005. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code, which gives information on access rights and their responsible exercise, was launched on the same day.

The Code can be accessed on the SNH website, at Link Removed

Well intentioned I have no doubt .. but now it is being abused and causing all sorts of problems for landowners..

Can it only be a matter of time until it is reformed.. or repealed?

One example:
"Wild camping mess drives Dunning Glen to apply for council help"

A picturesque part of the Perthshire countryside is being blighted by wild campers, party-goers and vandals. Link Removed
 

callumwa

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Wild camping mess drives Dunning Glen to apply for council help
A picturesque part of the Perthshire countryside is being blighted by wild campers, party-goers and vandals.




Was it the "wild campers party-goers and vandals" who left those ugly white masts blighting the landscape up on the hillside?:winky:
 

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GJH

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I don't think the law necessarily needs to be reformed/repealed, rather it simply needs to be enforced.

According to the code
Wild camping is defined as lightweight, done in small numbers and only for two to three nights in one place. You can camp in this way wherever access rights apply but help to avoid causing problems for local people and land managers by not camping in enclosed fields of crops or farm animals and keeping well away from buildings roads or historic structures. Take care to avoid disturbing deer stalking or grouse shooting. If you wish to camp close to a house or building, seek the owner’s permission. Leave no trace by: Taking away all your litter; Removing all traces of your tent pitch and of any open fire (follow the guidance for lighting fires); Not causing any pollution.

The Courier report says
"It's developed from simple wild camping and we're now seeing impromptu campsites and marquees as people visit from the central belt for raves organised over the internet.

"People are setting up camp and boozing all day and all evening. They leave behind all kinds of rubbish, principally glass bottles, but also camping equipment — evidence of campfires.
which describes events, not wild camping. Would a change in legislation change the behaviour of the people concerned? I fear not. I doubt that few of the people involved have ever heard of the SOAC. Without enforcement such behaviour would still occur.

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DESCO

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Tend to agree with Graham it.s not the law it's lack of enforcement, as is so often the case, eg driving and use of mobile phones.
 

wivvy's dad

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The Polliss are obviously corrupt, and spending far too much time harrassing innocent motorists

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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I don't think the law necessarily needs to be reformed/repealed, rather it simply needs to be enforced.

Who would do the enforcing, the local bobby on his bike ?

We are talking thousands of square miles of wild open countryside.. already we have seen a ban on alcohol and overnight parking introduced to try and stop the mess on Loch Lomond .. this is a national park with it's own Park Rangers to enforce it..

.. fears raised.. in 2001

Instead of concentrating on helping these custodians of our countryside, the Executive instead chooses to introduce inappropriate and ill-thought-out legislation that is liable to do Scottish agriculture more harm than good. "The proposals place even more burdens on Scottish farmers, creating more problems than they solve. The implicit right to group access would overwhelm farmers.

and so it has come to pass...
 

GJH

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I don't belittle the problem of enforcement, Jim, but I don't think a change in the law will help by itself. It isn't that many years ago that the media was full of reports of illegal raves in barns and other buildings in the countryside in England.

As with Loch Lomond, the problem is that bands of people go out for their own enjoyment with no regard for other people or the damage they do. Unless they are stopped from doing so they will continue whatever the law says.

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M1TCH

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Not been back long from three weeks up in Gods country :winky: wild camped a few nights and loved it, found a nice spot next to loch Garry in a layby off the main road, dont think its used much by large traffic as the exit was over grown with trees so had to reverse out in the morning not the best with a trailer on the back but ha ho, nice spot ruined by bags of rubbish and empty bottles what i cant under stand is who ever went to the trouble of putting them in bags but left them for somone eles, by the number of bottles there was a lot of people so plenty of cars to take them away. :Mad: this is the sort of action that will get us as motor homers the blame and a bad name i did notice more and more "NO OVERNIGHT PARKING" signs this year not wanting to come over as a goodie two shoes but i bagged them up in black bin bags took them to the next camp site put them in the recycle bins "good old Caravan club" so my point is you cant blame folk for not wanting wild campers but wrongly or rightly we will all get tarred with the same brush, and whats with the rings of stones for fires no probs but why would you go to the trouble of building one less than six feet from another :Doh: Gray.
 
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Weve wild camped in Glencoe several times and the only thing we left is the odd tyre mark
Its mostly the yobs out of glasgow that go for a couple of nights on the
piss
Surely us motor homers don nt drink that much on a stop over:thumb:

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