Warning to campers as new laws come into effect in National Park

A CONTROVERSIAL plan to ban wild camping following complaints of anti-social behaviour from areas around a popular beauty spot is due to come into effect.

Bosses at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority have said to visitors all kinds of camping are still welcome in the park when the new seasonal bylaws come into effect tomorrow.

The new rules will establish a camping-free zone around almost all of the west side of Loch Lomond and other parts of the national park, and have been brought in to curb anti-social camping.

Park bosses have become increasingly concerned about the amount of rubbish, including abandoned tents, beer cans and human waste, that have been strewn around the shores of the loch by overnight campers.

The bylaws create four Camping Management Zones, which will be in place from March to September. To camp in these zones during this period, visitors will need to have a valid permit to camp in a permit area, or stay over in a campsite.

Alongside this the Park Authority has provided moe than 300 camping and motorhome places in the bylaw zones. Camping permits cost £3 per tent, motorhome or campervan per night and can be booked online up to eight weeks in advance.

The new campsite at Loch Chon costs £7 per adult per night, with under-16s going free. Costs at other privately-run campsites vary.

Gordon Watson, chief executive of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, said: “Camping is one of the best ways to get out and enjoy the stunning surroundings we have in the National Park and there is every kind of camping experience on offer here.

“The new bylaws do not change that. Whether you are an experienced camper coming on your own or with your friends and family, there is still a wide choice of places to camp in the National Park.

“To support this we have opened a new campsite in the Trossachs at Loch Chon and are promoting some excellent locations to ‘wild camp’ with a permit.

“We just want to make sure everyone coming to camp in the park is aware of how the bylaws work and the camping options available.”

He said the vast majority of the park’s 720 square miles will see no change to camping.