Sadly, grough and other lovers of the outdoors will be denied the chance to see another sheriff traipsing through a millionaire’s Scottish estate in his wellies.
Stirling Sheriff Wyllie Robertson says he won’t be making a site visit in the same way his Perth counterpart Michael Fletcher did at Kinfauns. Mr Robertson says it won’t be necessary to go to the Boquhan Estate of Euan and Claire Snowie to see the land in question.
The couple erected a gate across a drive at their Kippen, west Stirlingshire pad. They say walkers would invade their privacy if they allowed them through. The sheriff ruled out a site visit to Boquhan, saying: "It's basically a set of gates, and I can't see the point of a site inspection for that, and I'm not going to be walking 70 acres.”
The Snowies’ legal move follows a similar one, reported on grough, by Stagecoach millionairess Ann Gloag who is attempting to get part of her Perthshire estate exempted from right-to-roam legislation. Stirling Council has issued a notice to the Snowies ordering that access be allowed. It says it is unreasonable to exclude walkers from the whole of the 70-acre estate.
The case is set to be heard next spring at Stirling Sheriff Court. The public has been barred from their land since September last year. The Ramblers’ Association in Scotland is supporting Stirling Council.
38-year-old Euan Snowie is a Labour party donor. His family’s firm earned more than £37m transporting and disposing of animal carcasses during the 2001 foot-and-mouth-disease crisis. He lists his occupation as a farmer.
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