The proposed ban of roadside camping on Loch Lomondside, suggested last  week by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, should be extended to other parts of Scotland, says a prominent MSP.

The National Park announced plans last week to ban “informal camping” in several areas, particularly on the Loch Lomond shores between Balmaha and Rowardennan, but  Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife and deputy leader of the Tory Party in Scotland, says he has called Perth and Kinross Council to investigate the possibility of restricting camping around the shores of Lochs Tay, Rannoch and Tummel as “a matter of urgency”.

He says a Loch Lomond ban could displace campers to other parts of Scotland, including popular areas within his constituency.

Murdo and I did a little radio interview on the BBC Out of Doors programme yesterday and I think Murdo was quite clear that he wasn’t talking about “wild” camping as defined in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and I have some sympathy with his call to extend the possible Loch Lomond ban.

However, I made the point that such byelaws are not necessary, although I agree with the proposed byelaw to ban roadside camping in the Loch Lomondside area. The problem has become extreme in the particular spot, and calls for extreme action, but I don’t think there is any any lochside spot in Scotland where the problem has been so concentrated.

I don’t agree that byelaws are necessary elsewhere because we already have legislation to deal with things like valdalism and litter. These are management problems, not access problems, and there are places in Scotland where such problems have been fixed.

For example, informal camping used to be the norm in Glencoe, close to the Clachaig Inn. The National Trust for Scotland, who own the land, fixed the problem by removing the laybys. Some former litter hotspots in Glen Etive have been sorted by the landowner rolling some large boulders across the entry points. Good management can fix the real problem areas.

The problem with rolling out bylaws across the country is that innocent are then punished for the actions of a mindless few. I think of all the fishermen who have traditionally fished, and camped, on the banks of Loch Tay, Loch Lubnaig, Loch Arkaig and other lochs for generations. Should they be punished because of a few lager louts? of course not. Rolling more bylaws out across the country is not the answer, good management is.