6 March 2003

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland has welcomed the publication of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. The MCofS regards this has another significant step towards securing improved access rights in Scotland.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on January 23rd and officially transferred from being a Bill to an Act when it was given Royal Assent on February 25th. This has now been followed up by the publication of the Act by The Stationery Office, and can be downloaded and ordered from their website.

For full details visit:
http://www.scotland-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2003/20030002.htm

MCofS Access and Conservation Officer, Mike Dales, has said: “This Act is the result of a long political process that the MCofS has been fully involved in. For the first time we can see exactly what the resulting legislation looks like, and study the new access system that we have to work with for the foreseeable future”.

MCofS President, Pete Hill: went on to say: “Whilst we are pleased to finally see this Act in print, it is just a point along the way to the complete package of the statutory law in this Act backed up by guidance on responsible behaviour in a Scottish Outdoor Access Code. There is a lot of work to do this year to influence the Code, and even when the Act and Code are fully implemented in 2004 we will need to continue working hard to ensure the success of the new system”.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will launch the public consultation into the Scottish Outdoor Access Code at the end of March. The MCofS is encouraging all walkers and climbers to take this consultation seriously and to make individual and club responses before the deadline, which is likely to be around late-June.

It is expected that Scottish Ministers will enact the new statutory access rights in the early part of 2004. This will coincide with the launch of the Code. In the meantime, the basis of our access to the countryside should continue to be on our traditional common law rights, as it has been in the past.

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