Firstly, let me say that I haven't read all of the posts, but understand and, to a degree, sympathise with all I have read above and agree with much of it.
Some of the remarks immediately put my hackles up though, like Gliderrider's "keep it north of the border"! I have no doubt he'd make full use of the rights others fought long and hard for, though! But if he has such an aversion to the idea of ordinary people going into the countryside, then he's perfectly at liberty to stay away. However, as difficult as it was in Scotland to get acceptance of our Countryside Bill, and that included some influential landowners driving the issues as well as MCofS, the SMC and various other organisations with outdoor interests, the issues in England would be far greater due to Medieval property laws and backward thinking. To my mind, it beggars belief that people would blindly accept exclusion from the majority of their own country and the notion that they're breaking the law every time they step off an authorised path or walk past a sign marked "Private".
We do have problems in Scotland with irresponsible people and unacceptable behaviour, occasional violence, vandalism and trash left wherever it happened to land. These people need to be dealt with in a way that would make them consider the consequences of their actions before the event, and the prospect of confiscation of every possession, including camping gear and equipment, personal items, cars, and mobile phones used in the offence would certainly make them stop and consider whether it was worth it! Camping has been banned on most of Loch Lomondside and The Trossachs, and that response is spreading like a cancer with banns on camping on lochs and riversides in Perthshire being considered.
Which brings me to another issue, the strong suspicion that Local Authorities, the Police and Ranger Services have a hidden agenda; give them plenty of rope to hang themselves, so enabling the authorities to argue that the problem is so out of control that a total ban is the only remedy.
Three separate occasions come immediately to mind;
1) A good many years ago now, the psychotic anti-camping warden responsible for Blackmount and Glen Etive area who had been driving past the scattering of an abandoned cottage tent, mattresses, clothing and accompanying junk for weeks, while his time was taken up with attempting to intimidate responsible campers. Myself and a mate cleaned up that mess and drove it to a skip a few miles up the road... and the following day, the fool came and told us that camping at the riverside was causing erosion to a river-bank which is engulfed by a torrent in the springtime. I won't repeat our reply!
2) A delapidated and collapsing tent just 100 yards from a well enough used highland road, which a mate and I had to steel ourselves to walk over and open, expecting to find a corpse. Thankfully, there was no corpse, but an array of kit and rotting food with hair growing from it. It turned out that the owner had lost the plot due to the ubiquitous Scottish Midgie, and had abandoned everything he wasn't wearing when he reached his car. It certainly seems to have put a damper on any Romanticism he may previously have harboured about camping in the Scottish Highlands, but my immediate feelings on being informed of that good news by Grampian Police were entirely of self-interest, knowing full well that numerous climbers, hill-folk and Nature Wardens had been driving past that tent for over a fortnight and not a one had made the effort to get out of their car to check that all was well. Changed days indeed!
3) Two years ago, I took my canoe out for a weekend paddle on Loch Tummel, having decided on an island campsite. I paddled away on the Friday and in the three or four miles to my intended camp, discovered two sites where tents, chairs, sleeping bags, etc, had been abandoned. Friday night was great, with the outward appearance of having the loch to myself. But Saturday brought a crowd from Perth who camped on the loch-side about a mile from me and who's behaviour, had they stayed in Perth, would have resulted in an appearance before a magistrate on Monday morning. They spent their time chopping at numerous trees with a blunt axe -I did think of paddling over and showing them how to sharpen it properly-, playing loud... I hesitate... music, arguing, playing at rally drivers in their knackered Ford Fiestas, until Billy got a smack in the mouth and the others walked -or drove- along the road, or carried burning logs through the trees shouting for "Billy" who was probably hiding 20 yards from the fire as, like all his mates, he was terrified of the dark. That went on until they passed out. I paddled back to the car on Sunday morning, drove along the loch-side road to their camp-site, which looked like a war-zone, and took their registration numbers and a GPS bearing, then drove to Pitlochrie to call the Police, stating that I was acting in defence of the Scottish Access Laws. Whether it went any further than that I have no way of knowing as I heard no more about it, despite volunteering myself as a witness.
The worst examples of problem camping around Loch Lomond were fully in view from a huge area, with repeated reports from locals, some of whom were quite genuinely concerned for the safety of their families and property. And yet there were very few prosecutions. Why is that when Strathclyde Police have fully trained Wildlife Crime Officers whose duties include the policing of the environment? And if preventing the desecration and vandalism of a National Park isn't the responsibility of National Park Wardens, then I fail to see the purpose of employing them at all!
It wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to catch these people? They're staggering around, out of their faces, at a bonfire 20 yards from their cars and shouting at the top of their voices! They're not clever, and the only reason for their behaviour is that they think they won't get caught! The only explanation for the lack of prosecutions is willful negligence on the part of Local Authorities, the Police and Nature Wardenries (not to mention their connivance with local business and hunting interests), and the manipulation of circumstances to force the desired change in the law, rather than adherence to their duty and function of upholding the law of the nation for the greater good!
I never thought I'd ever hear myself say this, but making it mandatory to display a licence to camp on cars outwith official campsites would not only ensure that holders are aware of their responsibilities and the penalties for breaches of trust but would make them signatory to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and immediately marginalise offenders. A form attached to the SOAC stating that the code has been read and understood, and holding the signatory to abide by the law would incur no cost whatsoever and could be administered at council offices at minimal cost.
The Scottish Countryside Bill is a brilliant piece of legislation but it must be consolidated and defended by the law, and there is no sense in making law without the will to enforce it.
Unfortunately, there's more than one species of Rat in the Park!
Happy Camping,
Pango.
can you sign it if you don't live in England or Wales
They cause damage without regard
