This meant that, between March and September (inclusive), in the area around Loch Lomond, to comply with the byelaws, you needed to camp in one of several designated locations and pay a fee. These locations did not have any facilities. In fact, at many of them it wasn't really practicable to put a tent up because there was too much vegetation or it was too boggy.
Attempts to stop campervans from parking by the road, fell by the wayside [Very witty! - Ed] because under the Road Traffic Act vehicles can be parked up to 15 yards from the carriageway for 'reasonable purposes'. This makes sense because drivers should not be forced to keep driving when they are tired.
Although there were lots of photos, no evidence was ever produced to show that it was people who wild camp that were responsible for the litter, poo, fires etc. The photos were of cheap popup tents and empty bottles probably used by a group having a boozy outdoor party.
Have the byelaws improved the stuation? No. The byelaws have been enforced in an arbitrary and unfair manner and there is still a huge litter problem. This is because campers were not really the problem in the first place. People throw litter out of cars and flytip. Instead of concentrating resources on managing litter, Loch lomond and Trossachs National Park employees are too busy making sure people take out camping permits.
One of the most worrying aspects of all this is that it is the thin end of the wedge. Because of Scotland’s access legislation, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, you are allowed to wild camp in the countryside so long as you stick to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and behave responsibly i.e.
- Take responsibility for your own actions
- Respect people's privacy and peace of mind
- Care for the environment
There is no doubt that there is a problem that needs to be addressed but the way to do it is to provide proper facilities. The Friends of Loch Lomond and Trossachs have set out what they think needs to be done:
- A more joined up approach should be taken to tackling litter issues including more frequent litter clearance at busy weekends and during holiday periods;
- More and larger bins should be provided at busy locations throughout the National Park as exhortations to take litter home in isolation of other measures simply doesn’t work;
- Implementation of the same policy for the A82 on Loch Lomondside as exists along the A9 in the Cairngorms National Park where litter bins are provided in every layby and emptied regularly;
- 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; and
- More hard hitting litter education campaigns on topics such as single use plastic, recycling and the impacts of irresponsible litter disposal in the National Park.
The way to change people's habits is to offer them a better alternative, not impose bans which they will try to find ways to circumvent.
You can keep up with what is going on and even get involved in campaigns at the excellent parkswatchscotland website. As the introduction says:
"Our two National Parks, the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, were created for the people of Scotland. This website has been set up to help ensure that Scotland’s two national parks deliver the aspirations which led to their creation.
Unfortunately, all is not well in our National Parks. Visitors are being treated as a problem, instead of the Parks’ most important customers. Great swathes of land continues to be degraded by unsustainable land management practices with all the implications that has for wildlife. People who want to live in the Parks face multiple challenges, including access to housing and well-paid jobs.
We live in a world where the powerful, and the bureaucracies that serve them, are increasingly unaccountable and serve their own interests. National Parks are no exception to this and increasingly operate like the worst Local Authorities with small cabals taking decisions in secret.
If our National Parks are to live up to their ideals, to enhance the land, enable people to enjoy it and promote sustainable development they need to be democratically accountable. This will only happen if there is pressure from below, from those who at present may be consulted but then ignored, and new mechanisms are created to enable debate and resolve conflicts where they exist."
