Get orf the road... a car ban at Charles’s favourite beauty spot
IT is a Highland beauty spot beloved of the Royal Family.
But the shores of a scenic loch where the Queen and Prince Charles frequently go walking has become blighted by wild campers, litter louts and traffic.
Now, in an unprecedented move, a legally enforced ‘roadblock’ is being put in place to limit the number of people driving to Loch Muick.
This summer, for the first time, officials will be able to prevent motorists from accessing the nine-mile stretch of public road that leads to the loch.
The ban can be imposed at a moment’s notice if the road becomes so busy with tourists that there is a danger of gridlock or accidents.
Meanwhile, a newly expanded squad of countryside rangers will patrol the Balmoral Estate and the wider Cairngorms National Park to crack down on irresponsible and anti-social behaviour by visitors.
Pete Crane, head of visitor services at the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), called the potential closure of the road ‘a last resort action’, after it became ‘congested,
‘Congested, blocked and dangerous’
blocked and dangerous with roadside parking’ last year.
He said: ‘Some people would like fewer visitors to the area but the local economy needs them.
‘The vast majority know how to behave but last year we noticed a different kind who would normally go to a festival.
‘That caused problems with abandoned tents, etc.’
Mr Crane added: ‘None of us know just how busy this season is going to be but we want to plan ahead.
‘We’ve never had to seek such action over this length of time before throughout the park.’
Loch Muick – pronounced ‘Mick’ – is about nine miles from Balmoral Castle. The estate was bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.
The present Queen enjoys picnics at the loch, and it was revealed this month she had named a new puppy Muick.
Prince Charles – known as the Duke of Rothesay when he is in Scotland – was pictured fishing there with eight-year-old Prince Harry in 1993.
Charles and wife Camilla are often spotted walking beside the loch during visits to Birkhall, their nearby estate. The public can access the loch by taking a dead-end road that leaves the B976 near Ballater and stops at the small Spittal of Glenmuick car park. But the area has become overrun at peak times.
Last summer the single-track road was so jammed with cars that tempers frayed, and the area was also so blighted by dirty camping and wild toileting that Balmoral’s rangers vented their anger on social media.
Appealing to visitors to clean up their mess, the rangers posted pictures of abandoned tents, dumped barbecues, piles of empty bottles and cans, fire pits and human waste.
Now Aberdeenshire Council has issued an order under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.
Beginning on April 1, the order will last for seven months.
If rangers believe traffic levels are becoming dangerous, the council will impose an immediate ‘no entry’ order to stop vehicles accessing the loch.
Cyclists, emergency vehicles, walkers and residents requiring access to their properties will still be allowed to use the road.
A similar order will also be imposed on another road which leads from Braemar to the Linn o’ Dee car park.
Alan Wood, director of infrastructure services for Aberdeenshire Council, said: ‘We simply cannot have a repeat of the selfish behaviour and unsafe practices which were observed last summer.
‘We do not want to see an influx of visitors causing congestion.’
The CPNA has been given funding for 12 more park rangers, including five allocated to Royal Deeside, and Balmoral is paying to employ an extra ranger.