Call for action over litter
Scotland may be the most beautiful country in the world, but it is also the dirtiest in western Europe, a group of litter pickers in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park has claimed.
The charity Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs has called for bolder action to tackle the blight of litter alongside the A82 tourist route on Loch Lomond-side.
Litter was a hot topic at the recent AGM, following ‘one of the worst years on record for accumulation of litter at beauty spots in the national park’. The group said: ‘There was concern that the current arrangements for litter collection are poorly coordinated between the various agencies and fall well short of what is required in Scotland’s most popular countryside destination.’
The group has suggested a five-point action plan should be adopted by local councils and bodies such as the national park authority and Forestry Commission Scotland. The list includes litter bins in every layby on the A82, and more and larger bins in busy locations, emptied more frequently.
The group is also calling for ‘more rigorous enforcement of litter fines as part of a wider effort to change people’s bad habits and attitudes in relation to discarding litter in the countryside and alongside road verges’.
James Fraser, chairman of the Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, said: ‘Recent research by Keep Scotland Beautiful has confirmed Scotland is one of the dirtiest countries in western Europe, despite being voted as the most beautiful country in the world by Rough Guide readers.
‘This contradiction is sadly well illustrated in Scotland’s first national park where accumulations of litter reached an all-time high in the past year at popular beauty spots and in laybys along the A82.’