This thread is resulting in many complaints and much upset - we have decided to now close the discussion. It seems like everyone has already made their opinion very clear by this point, and it is just generating anger between users that could persist for the future.
Just a reminder of the current official guidance, which is that recreation and leisure should currently be taken within 5 miles of home. This applies to all activities that can include distancing - there is no specific restriction on hillwalking. It is planned to lift these restrictions on leisure travel in Scotland on 15th July.
You may or may not agree, but it is at least plausible that the amount of longer distance travel could enable a virus to spread:
The purpose of people staying within their local area and not travelling long distances is to limit the potential spread of the virus between communities. Coronavirus is a “silent spreader” – people can have the virus and infect others without showing symptoms. So we need to do all we can to reduce the risk of people carrying the virus from community to community by travelling.
People are permitted to travel further to see a close relative or friend (or to go shopping, get medical supplies, essential work etc.) if necessary. This clearly does not mean travelling further is 'encouraged', as some claim.
I get that some people think it's all a lot of nonsense, that there's no risk and they'll be fine doing whatever they like. And also some others think the pandemic IS serious but that they personally never fill up their car with fuel or pop into a shop for some crisps or bump into other people when hillwalking so people like them should be allowed to go where they like, so there should be an exception for them and restrictions should just be for the rest of the public. But the guidance is for everyone - you can either travel around the countryside for leisure or not.
But there is also a very large number of people who are respecting the official guidance, even if they don't necessarily agree with all of it. This includes every outdoors body in Scotland as well as every public authority - Mountain Rescue, Mountaineering Scotland, Mountain Bothy Association, Ramblers Scotland, etc. etc.
If it is of interest, we had taken advice from a legal expert on the Coronavirus law. The law says it is a criminal offence to be away from your home without 'reasonable excuse'. More than 2,000 people in Scotland have been given on-the-spot fines for lacking such an excuse, including walkers.
There was the one case where walkers were charged with reckless conduct. We do not know the circumstances behind this, so I'm not sure how wise it is to comment.
Exercise (since the start) and outdoor recreation (added later but arguably the same thing) are specifically permitted under the law, as is essential work. Travelling to work is specifically permitted, but there is no mention in the law of being able to travel to then undertake recreation or leisure. The current guidance - not the law - says you can travel 5 miles. We took advice from a legal expert on this, and were told that what is 'a reasonable excuse' is a matter of interpretation, and the guidance assists in that. There are no precedents so any resulting cases would be uncertain, whatever anyones opinion might be. An interpretation that you could legally travel as far as you like to exercise was described as an 'extremely bold' one by the legal expert.
