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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Kathryn Anderson

Council calls for Scottish Outdoor Access Code to be updated

A councillor has said he was threatened with violence after asking someone to move their car.

The Conservative councillor made the revelation as he tabled a motion - which narrowly won the support of councillors - requesting a review of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC).

The Conservative councillor said the current code was "no longer fully fit for purpose".

Perth and Kinross Council's SNP council leader Grant Laing has been instructed to write to the Scottish Government calling on NatureScot to review the code to make it "relevant".

Cllr Ian James (Perth and Kinross Council)

Proposing the motion - at a meeting of Perth and Kinross Council on August 17 - Strathtay Conservative councillor Ian James said: "This motion doesn't seek to prevent people accessing our beautiful countryside and lochs but to update the code which is no longer fully fit for purpose."

He added: "I was actually threatened with violence myself when I asked somebody to remove their car from a field a farmer was trying to gain access with his combine harvester to.

"It's not just a Perth and Kinross problem but a national problem."

Cllr James added: "It doesn't confer for a right to roam but a right to reasonable access."

He claimed the code was "20 years past its sell-by date".

Seconding, Conservative Highland Perthshire councillor John Duff said the influx of visitors to Perth and Kinross had recently "mushroomed and doesn't look like declining".

He welcomed the growth in visitors but called for action to be taken in revising the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

Cllr Duff said: "It doesn't just cover the countryside, the access code covers open spaces within our cities and towns and our inland waterways too."

The Highland Perthshire councillor added: "We are not seeking to take away that enjoyment or restrict access. However increasingly the rights and responsibilities of access and land/water management are causing significant frustration for both groups."

He called on it to be "improved for everyone's benefit" and for PKC to "add our names to the growing list of names calling for change". He said the review was "long overdue".

SNP Strathearn councillor Stewart Donaldson expressed concern changes could mean rights become "diminished and align much more with the position in England and Wales".

Cllr James responded: "It's not our wish to restrict access to the countryside but to protect our countryside. We're lucky enough to access it now because previous generations looked after it."

He insisted it was just to update the code.

His motion stated: "Other than some minor technical changes incorporated in 2016 the SOAC has not been reviewed despite the ever-changing conditions, attitudes and challenging behaviour by visitors. The code is therefore in need of updating to ensure it is fit for purpose for both access takers and land managers."

Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors voted in favour of the motion calling for a review and it was carried.

SNP councillors and two Independents opposed it.

Provost Xander McDade (IND), Depute Provost Andrew Parrott (SNP) and Cllr Colin Stewart (IND) abstained.

PKC's leader will now write to the Scottish Government requesting an instruction to NatureScot to carry out an urgent review of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

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