The Scottish Government is currently consulting on proposed legislation which would mean new bulldozed hill tracks would require planning permission. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) which has campaigned hard for this new law, is urging hillwalkers to make their voices heard and respond to the consultation.
At the moment landowners currently enjoy Permitted Development Rights (PDR), which means that a planning application and consent is not required prior to bulldozing a track. The consultation is seeking views on a proposal to remove PDR for the formation of access tracks for forestry and agriculture purposes.
The MCofS welcomes these proposals but is urging walkers to take part in the process, a spokesperson for the organisation explained, “We expect the land-management lobby will be urging the government to drop the proposal. We strongly encourage MCofS individual and club members who wish to support the proposal to remove PDR to respond to the consultation by the closing date of Friday 22nd June 2012.”
The consultation paper can be downloaded here, it contains details of the proposal and how to respond. Anyone with an interest in the Scottish countryside can respond. The response form can be found on pages 32-35 of the document.