Rangers to tackle camping issues
Agreement sees council sign-off pilot project
Perth and Kinross Council is creating a new ranger service to help tackle “dirty camping”.
Councillors approved almost £ 750,000 towards a visitor management fund and the creation of a countryside ranger service at its budget-setting meeting, held online on Wednesday last week.
Elected members voted for PKC to contribute almost £500,000 to the ranger service, which was an idea initially proposed by the Independent/ Labour group.
Independent councillor Xander McDade convenes the Cairngorms National Park board and has seen the service work there.
Raising the proposal at the meeting, the Highland Perthshire ward representative said: “This new ranger service would work with our partner agencies and support our communities by providing advice to visitors on accessing the countryside responsibly.
“We know that engagement is critical to reduce the effects of littering, fires and anti-social behaviour that can be caused by irresponsible access and given the expectation of another staycation boom it is vital this investment is made now.
“These measures will create a nicer environment for residents and tourists and allow Perth and Kinross to continue to be promoted as a positive place to visit by our tourism businesses.”
Conservative council leader Murray Lyle welcomed the suggestion and - following a recess - incorporated the proposal into his administration’s final budget.
He said committing to providing a ranger service over the next two years would “enhance” their visitor management fund.
Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP, Liz Smith, has also welcomed the move.
She said: “I very much welcome this move “Our rural areas require support during the staycation season, and this service is very important for residents in St Fillans, Comrie as well as those who live near Loch Earn.”
A Strath dad has told of the “nightmare” of losing his oneyear- old son to aggressive brain tumours in the hope it will help other families spot signs before it is too late.
Dean Parker (34) and wife Holly (27) lost their 14 month-old son James on March 6 after a horrific week in which intensive brain surgery caused his heart to stop and restart and left him in a coma.
Medics did everything they could to save the baby boy but the tumours were so aggressive that one neurosurgeon told the family he had seen nothing like it in his 15-year career.
The couple, from Auchterarder, took James to a GP on February 24 after he had been vomiting consistently.
Prior to his sickness there had been no signs that he was in any form of pain.
Speaking to our sister title, the Daily Record, Dean said: “We want to speak out to try to help other parents who may be able to act sooner.
“Sadly we missed a lot of stuff because James showed no signs of anything until he started being sick all the time, every time he ate something.”
He added: “The doctors told us that children often have a way of hiding what is wrong with them.
“I think we would have had to go for CT scans almost every day of his life to have found it.”
After a trip to the GP at St Margaret’s Hospital in Auchterarder on February 24 little James was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for CT scans.
It was originally thought James might have swallowed something which was causing him to vomit.
However, after scans suggested there may be something more serious he was transferred to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh on February 26.
It was there that MRI scans revealed a brain tumour which was pushing on a nerve in James’ head causing him to be sick.
Further scans revealed tumours were sitting on almost every nerve in his brain controlling speech and his ability to walk.
More tumours were later discovered towards his spine.
James was taken in for intensive surgery on Wednesday, March 3, where surgeons discovered the true severity of the tumours which covered part of
his skull.
As a result, the one-year-old began to bleed uncontrollably during the operation and medics had to work tirelessly to try and save his life.
“I think there were about 27 neurosurgeons and anaesthetists working to save him,” said Dean.
“His heart stopped once during the surgery which lasted about six hours.”
The operation successfully managed to stop the bleeding however Dean and Holly were told there was a possibility James’ organs could fail during the night.
He was placed in an ICU ward where he remained in a coma on a ventilator.
On Friday March 5, a further operation known as a shunt was carried out to insert a drainage tube and relieve some of the pressure in his brain.
However, James tragically died the following day on March 6.
“We had to make the decision to take him off the ventilator,” said Dean.
“It was a very tough decision which we had to make after the operation went badly. He passed away in Holly’s arms.”
Dean said he and Holly are grateful to the staff at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children, who did everything they could to give James a peaceful passing.
The couple had just days to come to terms with losing their baby.
They were given the news that James would likely have had just six months to a year to live if he had managed to get through the coma.
Dean said: “The Wednesday was a horrible, horrible day. I think after the Wednesday I became a bit realistic about it and knew he would never be the same. My wife was a bit more hopeful about it.
“Even if he woke up from the coma the chances were he would have brain damage because his heart had stopped during the surgery and they had to perform CPR.”
Dean described the ordeal as living in a “nightmare” and hopes their story may help other families before things are too late.
He said: “It all happened in about the space of a week.
“Holly sat by his bedside and at one point I started to just walk around the hospital. It was surreal, like a nightmare and you are asleep and don’t know how to handle anything.”
Dean said James’s elder sister Emmie (8) has been strong through the whole process and he and Holly are working to make things easier for her.
“She has been doing really well and we are focusing on helping her get back to school and get a routine as best we can.”
The family had wanted to donate James’ organs to help other children but due to the spread of the cancer they were unable to. However, they have given tissue samples which may be able to help with future research.
Further information on signs and symptoms of brain tumours in children can be found at www.NHSinform.scot