Park authority has questions to answer over loch camping
IF litter problems are as bad on the west shore of Loch Lomond as Simon Miller of Luss Estates claims (“Estates chief ‘disgusted and appalled’ by lochside waste”, The Herald, June 16)”, it is obvious that bylaws to ban camping along the entire shoreline would not be the solution. The problems would be shifted to other locations which are far less able to deal with the resulting pressures, making the overall situation in Scotland much worse. What is now required is for the Environment Minister, Aileen McLeod, to call a public inquiry into the bylaw proposals.
The questions that need addressing in such an inquiry include: why has the national park authority and the Forestry Commission done so little in the 13 years since the park’s establishment to provide new camping facilities; why is Police Scotland far less effective than its predecessor bodies in enforcing the criminal law in the national park; why is the park authority failing to deal with litter problems when, in 2014, it was given new powers to issue on-the-spot fines; why does the park authority continue to make false claims for the so-called success of camping bylaws on the east shore of Loch Lomond when it has been told repeatedly that the figure of an 81per cent reduction in anti-social behaviour is invalid; why does it refuse to engage in constructive dialogue with outdoor recreation organisations to help resolve these problems?
Perhaps the Minister, when considering her response to this situation, can also reflect on the wider human rights dimension. At a time when politicians, both at Holyrood and Westminster, are reminding us of the importance of Magna Carta, UN and European declarations, UK and Scottish legislation on human rights, it would be supremely ironic if an SNP Minister were to remove one of our most cherished rights.
Thousands of people have been camping responsibly every year, for decades, beside Loch Lomond and this must continue. Meanwhile the national park authority needs to be reminded that it is not some sort of nationally funded residents’ association but has wider responsibilities to all who enjoy Scotland’s great outdoors. Dave Morris, 2 Bishop Terrace, Kinnesswood, Kinross. IT’S hardly surprising Luss Estates are backing the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s proposals for camping bylaws. A number of large landowners have always resented our world-class access legislation and Luss seems now to be using rubbish as an excuse to overturn these rights.
The fact is that rubbish is a problem everywhere in Scotland, as your excellent article last week on rubbish dumped from cars along motorways showed (“Drive to clear motorways of 120 tonnes of litter each year”, The Herald, June 10). What’s more, the National Park’s own figures for east Loch Lomond (published in its report to Ministers in March 2014) show that when the weather is hot and sunny litter levels reach similar peaks as before the bylaws. This undermines the claims that a camping ban will address litter problems.
If the National Park and Luss Estates really wanted to address littering they have the powers and resources necessary to do so. Last year the National Park was given the power to issue fines for littering but has not yet put in place any arrangements to do so.
It employs large numbers of rangers but their efforts to educate the public are constantly undermined by the different arrangements in place for litter collection across the park, so Perth and Kinross provide lots of litter bins along Loch Earn-side but Argyll and Bute none along the A82.
Meantime, Luss Estates received £110,149.33 in 2014 under the Scottish Rural Development Programme which funds economic, environmental and social measures. Surely, until the park gets a proper preventive strategy in place, it could be using some of this to clear up litter more frequently than the once a month it says it does at present? Nick Kempe, 23 Queen Square, Glasgow.