Film industry needs code of conduct

Sir,

The public viewpoints hotspot at Glencoe is where hundreds of people visit daily but it was shut down for 48 hours for filming recently (Thursday and Friday, September 28 and 29).

The letter of the law has been followed, but poor governance and negative partnership have been used.

The move also disrupted traffic on the A82 and there were road closures over a two-hour period for a maximum of three minutes per closure.

I tried to open dialogue with all parties to resolve this issue, but was ignored.

The film industry can and will be positive for our nation but must be nurtured to make it sustainable for future generations.

Film-induced tourism has been well researched and many academic papers have been written on this subject. It has been shown a film can have decades of effect on an area and can increase visitor traffic by 300 per cent soon after a film is released.

Local resources and funding must be in place first to manage this resource as failure to plan can and has destroyed communities.

The law must be respected by all, and part of the aim of my protest is to monitor what happens over these two days in a peaceful and non-violent manner.

There is no co-operation by the authorities to allow this to happen. I am relying on the Human Rights Act 1998, Article 11 to do this within the law.

I have the privilege to live in this area, which is for everyone to share and enjoy, and I have been campaigning to have a code of conduct for the film industry in my community. John Sinclair, glencoeviewpoint@gmail.com