The Scottish Parliament will soon get the chance to debate whether the cutting of new tracks in Scotland’s hills and mountains should be more tightly controlled. Following lobbying from the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) previously reported on Walkhighlands, a Labour MSP has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament to control such hill tracks.
Labour’s environment spokeswoman Sarah Boyack asked sumbitted the motion which calls on the Scottish Government to tighten planning regulations on where new routes through the hills could be cut.
Announcing the potential measure, Ms Boyack said, “The magnificent scenery in the Scottish uplands deserves to be preserved for future generations, but the increase in the number of engineered mountain tracks on our hills is a worrying development and an intrusion on the natural landscape.”
The MCofS has been calling for tighter controls following an increase in reports from hill walkers of bulldozed and badly engineered tracks through wild areas. In most cases there are no controls on the construction of such tracks.
The move by Labour also follows recent calls by the John Muir Trust for greater protection of wild land in the wake of the approval of the Beauly – Denny powerline.