Access & Conservation News
Statutory Access Rights in Scotland
What Happens Now?
By Make Dales
We are currently in a lengthy period between the passing of the Land Reform Act and the statutory access rights coming into effect on the ground. This, not surprisingly, is leading to some confusion. It is a complex piece of legislation.
The Land Reform Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 23rd January 2003 and received Royal Assent on 25th February 2003. At that point the Bill became an Act. From that day on we should be referring to the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. That does not, however, mean that it has been enacted. The statutory access rights will not have been introduced until an Enactment Order has been made by the Parliament.
The Land Reform Act contains three Parts.
- Part 1 Access Rights
- Part 2 The Community Right to Buy
- Part 3 The Crofting Community Right to Buy
Each Part of the Act is being enacted separately, and certain Sections within the Parts are being enacted ahead of the rest of the Part to which they belong (confusing!). For example, SNH’s duties to develop a Scottish Outdoor Access Code have already been enacted, thus enabling them to carry out the work they needed to perform before the new system is activated.
The vast majority of Part 1 (Access Rights) of the Act will be introduced, or enacted, at a later stage when a number of key factors are all in place. These factors include the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (which gained eventual agreement in Parliament on 1st July 2004) and Scottish Executive Guidance to Local and National Park Authorities being published.
So, the Act is now passed, the Code is in place and we are awaiting the Local Authority Guidance to be finalised. The MCofS responded to the consultation on the draft Guidance in May and the latest news is that the final version will be presented to Parliament in November and should be passed in January 2005. The preparation of this Guidance has not been finalised as quickly as previously expected, and as a result the date of Enactment has slipped. At the time of writing (20th October) the date is looking like it will be in February 2005.
The introduction of the new statutory rights and accompanying Code will coincide with a high profile publicity campaign being coordinated by Scottish Natural Heritage, so there will be specific messages targeted at dog walkers, overseas visitors, farmers, active recreationalists, youth groups and so on. Various advertising media will be used to promote these messages, so look out for leaflets, press adverts, and even some TV commercials!
The MCofS will offer further guidance at the time as well as playing our part in distributing educational material from SNH.
In the meantime we should continue to take access on the basis that we always have done, by traditional customary right, and we should seek advice where necessary. Once the new system comes into effect the simple act of going for a walk or climb should not change in any noticeable way, although it certainly will for those involved in other activities like canoeing, cycling, horse riding for example; but the main recommendation that we will offer is to familiarise yourself with the principles of the new statutory rights and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
We are aware of the support and assistance we have received from members throughout the legislative process and appreciate the way in which hillwalkers, climbers and other recreationalists have helped to shape the new access system. Thank you for your help. We are confident that the result will be a fairer; more easily understood system that will serve the nation well in future years.
The CRoW Act in England and Wales
By Mike Dales
Many people living in Scotland will be aware of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW Act) that is delivering a statutory right of access for “recreation on foot” to mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land. Some 1,240,000 hectares will be affected, representing about 8% of the land area of England and Wales.
The CRoW Act is very different to the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, so anyone crossing the border, in either direction, for a recreational visit should do some reading and become more aware of the two systems. Whereas the statutory access rights in our Land Reform Act are being implemented across Scotland on the same day (see separate story), the CRoW Act will be rolled out area by area as the mapping exercises in the different regions are completed. The basic principle of CRoW is that the mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land will be mapped, so the extent of the area in which the statutory right exists will be shown on maps.
The timetable for implementation across England and Wales is set out in the table below. As you will see, the implementation programme has already begun, so in some areas the statutory right is in place.
For further information on the CRoW Act, and access details in general for England and Wales, visit the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) website.
The CRoW Act - Implementation Timetable
This table shows when the new statutory rights of access will begin across England and Wales.
England:
South East - 19 September 2004
Lower North West - 19 September 2004
Central Southern - December 2004
Upper North West - May 2005
North East - May 2005
South West - August 2005
West - October 2005
East - November 2005
Wales: - May 2005
What Do You Think About Car Park Charging?
By Mike Dales
You are no doubt aware that charges for parking a car at mountain car parks is being introduced across Scotland. On Deeside the charge at car parks like Glen Muick has been set at £2, albeit payment is on a voluntary basis. Argyll and Bute Council has introduced a charge of 30p / hour, up to a maximum of £1, at the main Cobbler car park at the head of Loch Long near Arrochar. In recent weeks we have heard rumours of a £1 per person charge for parking at a car park on the edge of the Cairngorms.
The MCofS is concerned about the introduction of car park charging in walkers’ and climbers’ car parks across Scotland. This has become a contentious issue and looks set to become more keenly debated as charging is considered in more and more locations. Unlike a lot of controversial issues where the majority of the hill going community are of the same opinion, and representing that opinion is relatively straightforward; opinion on the car park charging issue appears to be a split.
We have heard a wide range of views, but have no firm grasp of what weight of numbers lay behind the differing views, and that makes it hard for us to judge the strength of feeling and represent a mountaineering view on the issue.
We would like to ask a number of questions of readers that would help in deciding our response Please answer by replying to us at the MCofS office by letter or email. There are three distinct directions that the MCofS could follow:
- Oppose car park charging in the countryside because it discourages healthy exercise, discriminates against the less well-off, urbanises the countryside, represents a back door means of charging for access, leads to inappropriate parking outwith the official car park and gives a foot in the door for increasing the price once the charge has become accepted.
- Support car park charging because it discourages use of the private car, enables us to contribute to the rural economy and provides useful pump-priming funds for footpath and other recreational management work.
- Accept the concept of car park charging, but seek to influence its management by developing our own set of guidelines for doing it in an acceptable way. For example, we could suggest a price limit, request our involvement in any consultation prior to the introduction of charging at any site, and recommend where the money goes. Such guidelines would be non-statutory, but with suitable promotion could become respected and accepted by most.
As an overriding issue we need to ask the subsidiary question: is it worth us spending time on this issue when we have access issues like the current challenge to our customary use of railway level crossings, and conservation issues like the threat to our landscapes from windfarms? However, if car park charging becomes accepted everywhere then it could soon represent a major part of the cost of our activity and might well be worth the effort of fighting it, or at least having some influence over it.
Send your responses to: Mike Dales, C/O MCofS, The Old Granary, West Mill Street, Perth PH1 5QP. Email: mike@mountaineering-scotland.org.uk.
Bulldozed Tracks
By Mike Newbury
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland's 'Hill Tracks and Vehicles Policy' was passed at the AGM of 1994. It includes the statement:- "The MCofS will campaign to enhance the pool of remote land by seeking the removal of unnecessary hill tracks".
We can now report that the National Trust for Scotland have so far removed 25km. out of the total of 72km. of vehicular tracks on Mar Lodge Estate, either restoring the ground completely, or reducing the track to footpath width. (Scottish Natural Heritage and European Union provided substantial funding towards the work.) In particular, the atrocious scar of the Beinn a' Bhuird track has been graded over and, with encouragement, the native vegetation is slowly returning. A pleasant footpath has been made on this route! An inspection report is available on our website.
Meanwhile, we have responded to a consultation by the Cairngorms National Park Authority on their Draft Vehicle Hill-Tracks Policy. We urge the use of existing legislation to bring all vehicular tracks in the National Park under planning control, that no more tracks should be permitted in the core area, and that the Park Authority should support the removal of existing hill tracks wherever practicable. The full MCofS Response is available on our website.
On the negative side, we have been notified of a continuing number of new tracks appearing such as that in Glen Dessary, which cuts a zigzag path high up the hillside. We have been in contact with Highland Council on this particular case but when such a track, outwith a National Scenic Area or National Park, is stated as being for agricultural purposes, there is little anyone can do in law to have it stopped. But please continue to let us know when members see new tracks. We shall continue to pressure statutory bodies to bring such development under tighter planning control.
HIGH STAKES
The fight to protect the landscape of the North-west Highlands from new pylon lines.
By Iain Roy
It has been a busy summer for the activists of Highlands Before Pylons, the Ullapool group formed in the spring to oppose the construction of new 50m high pylon lines across the landscapes of northern Scotland. They have been accused of many things including, naturally, being a vociferous minority of selfish nimbyists who do not grasp the need for meeting renewable energy targets. But nothing could be further from the truth. Most are life-long environmentalists who have been concerned about global warming and related matters long before such issues became politically fashionable. They understand very well the pressing need to develop forms of renewable energy; what they are saying is that in the current stampede to windpower by major power companies there is a conspicuous lack of an overall strategy or concern for collateral damage to the environment and to the communities of the Highlands and Islands.
HBP are not against windpower per se; they merely wish to protect the landscape which not only is a source of supreme pleasure to many but is the cornerstone of the Highland economy. Specifically, they challenge the need for intrusive overland power-lines to transmit power, however it is generated, and say there are alternatives. Their researches have discovered that it is technically possible to put transmission lines underground, or better still undersea, contrary to the power company propaganda. It is done elsewhere in the world so why not here? Why, they argue, should the Highland landscape be scarred to take power to the consumers of the south, and why should large multinational companies be allowed to pressure remote communities to stand aside and let this happen? In the Lochbroom Parish most of the local landowners have refused to take the company shilling and are in the van of the fight against the pylons proposed to take power from the Outer Hebrides across to Beauly where it would join the now infamous Beauly – Denny line. (The line would come ashore at Ardmair Bay, one of the most iconic sites of the north-west, before transecting Glen Achall where the resident estate owner has spent a lifetime lovingly restoring acres of native trees on the slopes above a tranquil loch frequented by black-throated divers and other rare highland species.)
SSE, the company involved are, reluctant to declare their plans in detail but HBP have learned that the Ullapool-Beauly “preliminary preferred corridor” has been chosen to avoid designated areas to the north and south. But they would say that wouldn’t they? In most countries where there was such a quality of landscape the entire region would be protected as a National Park or Sanctuary of some description. Conveniently they forget that this route follows closely the A835, the main tourist highway to the north-west. Where it crosses the Dirrie Moor, the road affords fine vistas towards An Teallach from Loch Droma, the Fannichs and the Beinn Dearg group – all scenes of the highest order. It then passes down by Braemore by the Corrieshalloch Gorge, the famous NTS managed site, which on any given day in the summer season is inundated with tourists – as is the viewpoint at Strathmore on the Fain route to Dundonnell. HBP believe their summer’s campaign has heightened awareness: amongst the general public who have signed a petition against the pylons in their thousands and amongst politicians at Westminster, Edinburgh, Inverness – and Strasbourg – who are wakening up to what is at stake, including many votes at forthcoming elections. Journalists and assorted celebs too have voiced concern. Cameron McNeish, in the national press this summer, has likened the construction of a high pylon line across the Dirrie to “taking a blade across a Rembrandt”. Surely all those – and they are many – who have walked and climbed in the wildernesses of this region with their many Munros and long airy ridges would agree that this is one of the very few remaining areas of the British Isles where one can find such inviolate space. For more than two hundred years civilized societies worthy of the name have recognised the need to respect and preserve wild land; it is not a luxury for the self indulgent, access to wilderness is a profound need for any urbanised society and we desecrate it at our peril. What a dreadful irony there is in the thought that, in pursuit of “green power”, we are prepared to destroy our precious land.
There has never been a greater need for sensible, “joined–up” thinking. For the sake of a bit of sensitive planning and, yes, perhaps a little bit of extra cost, HBP argues we can have it all. The goal of renewable energy as our main provider is reconcilable with our love of and need for open spaces, where nature can take its course and people can find their own inner peace. It is time we put a true value on our landscape above the profits of power companies. HBP appeals to all those who care to add their voice and oppose any unnecessary pylon line when applications are submitted – which is expected in the near future.
For up to date information on this and related issues visit the HBP website: http://www.hbp.org.uk/, or contact Iain at: Broomrigg, Rhue, Ullapool, Wester Ross IV26 2 TJ
Email: mail@iainroy.com.
Will a ‘Renewables Forum’ Save Our Hills?
By Kevin Howett
Whilst we have been notified of two highly visible and large developments gaining consent at Farr (Monadhliath) and at Braes of Doune (near Callander), the Deputy Enterprise Minister, Allan Wilson announced a new advisory forum to help shape Scottish planning guidelines for renewables. The forum will bring together experts across Scotland. This might include heritage bodies, environmental groups, local authorities, as well as industry and organisations such as Scottish Natural Heritage, which can feed into the planning review.
He also said "It is important that we continue to harness all of Scotland's huge natural resources if we are to make sure Scotland benefits both economically and environmentally from the renewables industry. There is a great deal of common ground as we aim to ensure Scotland benefits from renewable energy, but not at an unacceptable cost to the environment. This body will help us achieve our aim and to meet our ambitious target of 40 per cent of electricity generated in Scotland from renewable sources by 2020,"
It remains to be seen whether places such as Perthshire, Ardnamurchan, Lewis and Lochaber will be considered too sensitive for windfarms. See our website for lots more up to date information on this issue.
Strathfarrar Access During Winter
By John Mackenzie
For a second year a system of access into Strathfarrar for winter walkers and climbers has been arranged after a successful trail last year. Walkers wishing to gain the hills of the north Strathfarrar Ridge (lots of Munros), Sgurr na Lapaich, An Riabhachan and a clutch of Corbetts as well as some 50 winter routes on crags within Coire Toll a’ Mhuic, namely Sgurr na Muice and Sgurr na Fearstaig east faces, and big remote offerings on the north and east faces of Sgurr na Lapaich, An Riabhachan and Maoile Lunndaidh were previously barred from vehicular access by a gate to this private road. It has been open for short day periods in summer in the past, operated by a gate-keeper, but worries by the landowner over poaching have meant closure before tea time or darkness, never long enough to allow a full day, and not at all in winter.
The arrangement has now been made for winter access from the 1st November through to the 1st of April.
If members wish access to the Glen Strathfarrar hills during these months, then they should phone the MCofS office in Perth and give:
- the date of their visit
- the registration number of their car
- and the names of the occupants
to our Administrator, Pet Thomas. In turn you will be given the combination number for a lock on the gate, allowing you access throughout the day. Please make sure you relock it after going in and after leaving. Please also note that the combination number will be regularly changed.
Phone: 01738 638 227. Please be patient as we are understaffed, and don’t leave it to the morning of your visit!
Access Symposium
By Mike Dales
In early November the MCofS held its annual Access Symposium at Charlestown in Fife. The topical issue under discussion was Local Access Forums. The MCofS is in the process of finding representatives to sit on local access forums across the country, so it is vital to familiarise ourselves with how they work and decide how we are to go about working with them. As well as recruiting members to sit on forums we also need to consider how we are to train and support those who do volunteer for this work.
Speakers at the Access Symposium were Rona Gibb of Paths for All, Bridget Jones of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, and Peter Pearson who is a local community representative on the Perth and Kinross Local Access Forum. A key outcome of the day was the need for the MCofS to work with the Paths for All Partnership, which has a place on every local access forum in Scotland.
Snapshots
In addition to the major tasks reported elsewhere, we have carried out the following access and conservation activities over the past few months.
- Responded to the NTS Future Management of Glencoe consultation.
- Responded to two consultations on the proposed Beauly to Denny transmission line.
- Provided written evidence to the Parliamentary Justice 1 committee on the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
- Attended the JMT and SNH conferences.
- Liaised with Forestry Commission on mountain paths being repaired with European funding.
- Met with Network Rail on the issue of private level crossings.
- Took part in Radio Scotland interview on Hillphones for the Out of Doors programme, and the Fresh Air documentary on wind power.
