Wild Land News no 53, Summer 2001

COMMENT: Alterations to Proposed Access Legislation produce a Dog's Breakfast of a Bill Article

At the end of June 2001, the consultation period for the draft Land Reform Bill closed. There was a great deal to consider, and the Steering Team concentrated on the issue of access as the most crucial to tackle.

There has been much in the press about the access proposals, from landowners, farmers, walkers and mountaineers. Much of it has been critical of the proposals. One commentator said that perhaps the Scottish Executive have got the balance right if the proposals are criticised from both ends of the access spectrum. However this is not the case.

The draft bill is a dog's breakfast (with apologies to dogs and their caterers), because the original Access Forum proposals have been altered significantly. The SNH Access Forum comprised most of the major players in the countryside, and had hammered out draft proposals that everyone involved signed up to.

The ink was hardly dry on the paper of these proposals before the alterations crept in. Firstly the SNH Board changed some elements, for some reason, possibly due to either lobbying or worry about how the Scottish Executive and landowners would react. The main changes occurred once it reached Edinburgh and the Executive. The version that was printed as the access section of the draft Land Reform Bill was far removed from the Access Forum proposals. The forum was open and democratic yet the changes were all done unilaterally behind the scenes, without explanation or rationale. Why ?

The most likely answer is strong lobbying by land management interests. There may also have been changes produced by civil servants who perhaps may have been favouring the status quo and added hugely complicated elements into the legislation.

It is a sad reflection on our senior civil servants, our ministers and the Scottish Executive as a whole that the product of mature discussions by a civic body, i.e. the Access Forum, has been altered significantly to produce a bill that gets serious criticism and abuse from many sectors of society. The new Scottish Parliament was meant to more open, different from the past, and to support initiatives coming from civic forums, especially ones where agreement on proposals has been reached already.

The Wild Land Group's message to the Scottish Parliament is that the original proposals from the Access Forum must be reinstated as the core of the draft access legislation. To this end we strongly advise all Scottish members where possible to lobby their MSP to get the bill changed. This can be done by writing or e-mail, but the most effective is to also visit your MSP's surgery and explain the problems in person. The response of the Steering Team is on our website, or copies can be obtained from the Co-ordinator.

There is time between now and when the bill reaches the floor of Holyrood. Use that time and press for better legislation and an end to behind-the-scenes alterations. Scotland deserves a better bill and one is available from the Access Forum.