As we reported back in July, wild camping outside of designated official campsites or without the landowners permission is illegal England and Wales, but in Scotland it was legalised in 2003. However over 14sq km along the banks of Loch Lomond the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park authority wants to ban the practice with a local by-law due to the amount of litter being left, trees being cut down and wild parties.
If passed by the Scottish Parliament, the by-law will impose a £500 fine for anyone camping in those areas although informal campsites are being planned in the area. The park authority blames city dwellers driving up from Glasgow and camping around the edge of the loch due to it’s easy access from the city.
The action is being considered after years of the police and park authority staff trying to deal with the problem under the current legislation from the minority of people visiting the area. The Ramblers Association who campaigned for the right to camp originally along with Sport Scotland have urged the authority to try to explore other options, but it is looking increasingly likely that the ban will be put in place.
As an observation – it is a little unclear as to how they plan to enforce this action if the police and authority staff were previously unable to deal with acts such as littering and vandalism, both of which are of course illegal anyway…?
Extra information:
Official campsites in Scotland
