The proposed signs for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs camping control areas
Mountaineers are calling on national park authority members to delay the implementation of ‘appalling’ new rules that mean campers could be landed with a criminal record.
The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs board is due to consider on Monday proposals for a system which involves a system of camping permits for anyone wishing to wild camp in designated areas.
The plans are a further step in controlling camping in the national park, following bylaws introduced around Loch Lomond which the authority says are essential to combat anti-social behaviour and environmental damage caused by irresponsible visitors.
Mountaineering Scotland, which represents hillwalkers, climbers and mountaineers north of the border, called on the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs board to defer any introduction, likening the case to the Scottish Government’s argument in the Supreme Court over the need for a proper consultation on the UK Brexit plans.
Under Scotland’s right-to-roam laws, responsible wild camping is permitted in most of the countryside, but the initial Loch Lomond bylaws overrode that right, making it illegal to camp in the summer months along stretches of the loch, including a large section of Scotland’s most popular long-distance trail, the West Highland Way.
Park bosses are asking board members to approve the introduction of a £3 charge for anyone wishing to be exempted from the wild-camping bylaws, and a £7 per person charge for using the authority’s ‘informal’ campsites, including a new one at Loch Chon and an existing one at Loch Lubnaig, a 40 per cent increase in the charge for using the Sallochy site on the east shore of Loch Lomond which is currently operated on the authority’s behalf by Forest Enterprise Scotland.
David Gibson, chief executive of Mountaineering Scotland said: “The park authority is rushing through the introduction of a set of appalling proposals which present a confusing picture to intending campers.
“If the proposals are approved, the lack of on-the-ground clarity about camping management zones and provision could lead to the criminalisation of people who might believe they are camping or resting at night during a journey, which would otherwise be within their rights by complying with the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act and Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
“The proposed permit scheme will also impose costs of £7 per night on people who would otherwise be able to enjoy free access to the outdoors and as such is socially divisive, at a time when the Scottish Government is encouraging more people to get active.
“We still maintain that the park authority is resorting to bylaws which are wholly unnecessary as they, with Police Scotland, already had the powers to act against the limited few who cause nuisance and damage.
“We therefore call on the park authority board to delay the introduction of the bylaws by 12 months to enable appropriate public consultation on the specific proposals for the permit scheme and signage.”
Mountaineering Scotland, which was formerly the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, said proposed signs for camping management zones are misleading. It said bylaws include campervans, motorhomes and anyone sleeping or resting in a vehicle overnight, yet the signs gives no indication that these users are subject to restrictions.
Anyone served a notice by a park ranger could be committing a criminal offence which attracts a £500 fine.
Mountaineering Scotland represents more than 13,000 members and also acts for 75,000 members of the British Mountaineering Council on matters related to landscape and access in Scotland.
Andrew Marshall
12 December 2016This is just the beginning.... If the Trust get their way the rest will follow and then campsite prices will go up and yet very few new ones will appear.... Why should the few spoil it for those of us who camp responsibly!! Always the same. Instead of targeting those few they target EVERYONE else...
John Manning
12 December 2016“We still maintain that the park authority is resorting to bylaws which are wholly unnecessary as they, with Police Scotland, already had the powers to act against the limited few who cause nuisance and damage."
That's the nub – the laws already exist to deal with the problems associated with reckless camping (I won't call it "wild camping" as that, in its truest sense, tends to be carried out by responsible backpackers).
Was the LL&TNP ever about wild land protection though? I remember the hoteliers drooling when the park's creation was announced, and the cheers (or was it "ker-chings"?) from the tourism industry. Here's the park authority trying to get its own nose further into the trough instead of working with the police to deal with that element of society that spoils it for those innocently and responsibly exercising their right to enjoy the outdoors.
Peter Birbeck
12 December 2016As a one time wild camper along the shore myself during a walk up the West Highland Way, and witness more recently to apalling anti-social acts by very drunken campers beside the car park near Rowardennan, I have to reluctantly agree that some controls are required. It is unlikely that any paper based system will work, as it will simply be ignored. The "non English as a first language" miscreants I witnessed are difficult to control.
William shields
12 December 2016Hopefully this doesn't go ahead , some folk like myself enjoy going up out loch to chill out , LNT is the way all my friends and myself do .
We are getting tarred with the same brush as a minority of campers , use the existing laws to punish the ones who are irresponsible, not the majority of us who have camped wild on the Bonnie Banks for 20/30/40 years with no issues .
J Breen
12 December 2016Target the yobs not the innocent majority. Anyway they just move on somewhere else. Glen Etive now seems to be the place to be for drunken raves and Glen Dessary has had similar issues.
S Dodson
12 December 2016The situation needs controlling. Tough I know but doing nothing is not an option. Booze bottles, cans and Bar B Q trays are not wanted in the countryside.
Angus nicoll
12 December 2016The land reform bill introduced access rights to all. Why are those people changing the law and getting away with it???
Arthur O\'brien
12 December 2016Yes, Target the guilty.... Not the innocent....!!
Stevie blackwood
13 December 2016Shocking dicission as a long distance walker who has done the west highland way and rob roy way many times and in the past when i felt tired i could pich my tent and rest and now because of a minority who wish to party on the bonnie banks honest hikers like myself are being punished
R Webb
14 December 2016Going for the easy target - the outdoor ignorant LLTNP oblivious to the problems caused to cycle tourists/canoeists who cannot just easily walk a few hundred metres inland like walkers.
This will spread if not nipped now - other areas and into the hills. At least in England if you are caught stealthing, you are just caught stealthing.
We need a mass nap in. Spirit of Kinder!
Mich h
21 December 2016Please don't make my love of wild camping illegal. But I do agree something needs to be done,as I live near glen orchy and see the endless damage done by a few. Maybe a permit system to help fund more park rangers in more areas to help catch and and bring to justice the few.
leo faccenda
08 January 2017all this will do is push folk north to glen orchy and beyond , i'm already seeing a massive increase in rubbish bags abandoned in camping places all over the glencoe area , i dont understand folk thinking its ok to leave their rubbish, its shit
Stevo
27 January 2017I really don't think this is about wild land protection, rather a cynical move to undermine the Scottish Land Access Rights. Let's face it, wild campers don't bring as much money to the area as folk staying in accommodation and the Park is a tourism product to be milked. Note that one of the National Park's 4 aims is to promote economic development of the area.
From their Corporate Plan 2012-17:
"Loch Lomond & The Trossachs has the potential to be a real generator for growth in Scotland..."
and perhaps more worryingly:
"...while the Park Authority is engaged in identifying and addressing local priorities in the National Park, these ‘local’ operations provide a significant contribution to the national outcomes sought by Scotland as a whole. In many instances, the aim is for the innovation and integrated activity piloted in the National Park to become a future solution for other rural areas of Scotland. "
Also, take the Drymen - Rowardennan road. Parking restrictions are placed on the road, carparks start charging.
Not the first time that I've come off Ben Lomond and had a nap in my car before setting off home, for road safety. Something which is now illegal at certain times of the year.