Hill Tracks Campaign - Report published
The Scottish Wild Land Group has joined nine of Scotland’s leading environmental organisations to publish 'Track Changes', a report on the construction of hill tracks outside the planning system. The report presents evidence of the damage caused by unregulated track construction, and calls on the Government to bring all tracks into the planning system to ensure that minimum standards are met and allow public oversight.
The report follows a public appeal for photographs of hill tracks overseen by Scottish Environment LINK, and long running attempts by the SWLG and other organisations to stop the uncontrolled spread of tracks across the country. This spread has contributed to the rapid loss of wild land in Scotland, and has damaged numerous sensitive landscapes and habitats, including in protected areas such as National Parks. Despite the Scottish Government previously accepting that there is ‘compelling evidence’ of unacceptable damage, it recently decided not to amend legislation that exempts hill tracks from the planning system. As a result, landowners can still bulldoze tracks through some of our most precious environments without any public oversight.
Although the appeal for information is over, you can still send evidence of poor track construction practices to us here, and contact your MSP about this issue. The SWLG's position on hill tracks is set out in a response to the Government's 2012 consultation, and in an article from Wild Land News in 2010.
In addition to donations from the organisations participating in this project, funding has been generously provided by the Scottish Environment LINK Discretionary Project Fund and by a grant from the Scottish Mountaineering Trust.
The report follows a public appeal for photographs of hill tracks overseen by Scottish Environment LINK, and long running attempts by the SWLG and other organisations to stop the uncontrolled spread of tracks across the country. This spread has contributed to the rapid loss of wild land in Scotland, and has damaged numerous sensitive landscapes and habitats, including in protected areas such as National Parks. Despite the Scottish Government previously accepting that there is ‘compelling evidence’ of unacceptable damage, it recently decided not to amend legislation that exempts hill tracks from the planning system. As a result, landowners can still bulldoze tracks through some of our most precious environments without any public oversight.
Although the appeal for information is over, you can still send evidence of poor track construction practices to us here, and contact your MSP about this issue. The SWLG's position on hill tracks is set out in a response to the Government's 2012 consultation, and in an article from Wild Land News in 2010.
In addition to donations from the organisations participating in this project, funding has been generously provided by the Scottish Environment LINK Discretionary Project Fund and by a grant from the Scottish Mountaineering Trust.
