I would like to comment on ‘isle gal’s’ statement regarding motorhomes, I am in total agreement of course regarding the machairs, which are a unique environment. But having lived in the western isles for almost 10 years, feel I should also raise the point that until the 1970’s locals were using those fantastic beaches up there for dumping their rubbish and while I was there would still dump rubbish and wrecked cars out on the peat moors. I also know that items such as cars and old solid fuel stoves were actually buried in the peat! Together with a local fish processing plant dumping bleach directly into the nearby water course, there are a lot of environmental issues up there that need to be addressed by the locals as well as the visitors.

It sounds as though people are treating the idea of wild camping as an excuse not to pay campsite fees and spend the money they save on extra bottles of beer, whilst being able to completely do away with their personal dignity. Great!

This is such a shame for such a beautiful part of the country and I feel very sorry for the local residents and land owners in this area. Instead of attracting responsible and respectful tourists like ourselves, it seems that Loch Lomond will be given over to the yobs.

If only Britain could have the same attitude to outdoor activities and the environment as other countries, such as Canada and Slovenia then maybe we could have more Land Reform Acts that wouldn’t then have to be revoked. This country seriously needs to reform its me me me culture.

“Dear Gordon,

Thank you for your email and pictures referring to Loch Chon and the damage there from camping activities.

We are well aware of this issue throughout the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park and indeed the National Park area and do take steps to try and minimise this and also to try and manage the situation regarding litter and other fouling of the area. It is a difficult problem but not one that we are prepared to walk away from.

Initially the main problem area tended to be on the east side of Loch Lomond and we have spent many years collecting litter before, during and after weekends and also trying via different communication methods to educate those people on site in the correct way to behave in the countryside. In the main this was not working and the community and other organisations in the area became more and more aware that this was the case as the problem grew.

A local management group was set up to bring together all our efforts and this included the Police, National Park, National Trust and ourselves. A joint scheme lead by the Police known as Ironworks was set up - this involved joint patrols, a direct phoneline to report issues and a willingness by the Police to make arrests. Recently it has been reported to us that the Police have charged a person for cutting down a tree at Rowardennan and it is hoped that some form of penalty will be made.

One of the results from this initiative has been the movement of people camping at Loch Lomond to other locations and although Loch Chon was previously used for this form of activity it is apparent that the level of use has increased in the area recently. This has been noted and during 2009 the planned level of activity of the Ironworks team will be to increasingly visit Loch Chon and other loch sides in the area. We recognise that this will not solve the problem immediately and that there is still a long way to go but we have been happy with the success so far and believe that we can roll this out to other locations.

We also recognise that in the long term the best way to deal with this is through education of the potential user and their friends of how to camp properly and behave responsibly towards the environment. During 2009 the National Park are to employ a Policeman, part of whose role will be to meet with school groups and start the process of education at a young age.

I am disappointed at the reaction of our member of staff to your contact and I will discuss this with him to try and ensure that he is more proactive in future. As you indicate he does have other work to do but he should where possible help people like yourself and deal with obvious and dangerous areas of litter (such as prominent areas of glass). We have another person who concentrates solely on litter and i would hope that much of the problems you encountered in the Loch Chon area will be removed over a period of weeks.

Thanks for your contact and I hope you can agree that we are making efforts to manage the situation and can also accept that we will continue to do this.

Thank you also for taking such a proactive role in helping with litter.

All the best,

Stuart

Stuart Chalmers
District Forester Tourism and Communities
Forestry Commission Scotland
Aberfoyle
Stirling
FK8 3UX”

I personally think that people behaving irresponsibly in any area with huge fires and hacking down trees after watching Ray Mears on the telly, and leaving masses of litter etc, should be arrested and charged and made to either clean it up or pay compensation to the landowner at cost for the clean up. What about public information broadcasts on the telly? A combination of hard hitting and engendering a sense of pride and respect for our beautiful country? It’s Scotlands disgrace that many many people have a total disregard for our beautiful country. John Muir would turn in his grave.

Gordon

I quote: “Access rights extend to wild camping. This type of camping is lightweight, done in small numbers and only for two or three nights in any one place. You can camp in this way wherever access rights apply but help to avoid causing problems for local people and land managers by not camping in enclosed fields of crops or farm animals and by keeping well away from buildings, roads or historic structures. Take extra care to avoid disturbing deer stalking or grouse shooting. If you wish to camp close to a house or building, seek the owner’s permission.”

Seems fairly straightforward to me - you were within your legal rights.

I was convinced he had phoned the farmer of the field which backed onto the path. The farm buildings were at least 3 quarters of a mile away. Sure enough about 10 mins later a guy happened along and, once again, pleasantries were exchanged. He then asked me if I knew I was camping on Private land. (There were no private signs and no, no camping signs). I said no, and if I had known, I would have seeked permission before setting up camp.

To cut a long story short, he kept saying that he wasn’t happy about me camping there. I tried to reason with him that I was only looking to camp for the night, I was a responsible camper, would be away early and had no intentions of setting a fire, but he still kept repeating, ‘I’m not happy about this’.

Although, it was a pest to pack up and find another spot, I did just that, as I didn’t feel good about the landowner’s displeasure. What I was really wondering though was; although I had the right to camp there, should I have stayed, or was I right to move on? I’d be interested what people think about this for future reference. Cheers