Lochside Litter and Wild Camping Over the years, to me the term ‘wild camping’ meant that when I’d had a very long walk in to climb a few Munros and it was quite impossible to walk in, climb the hills and walk out again the same day, I would carry a small, lightweight tent and all the kit necessary to enable me to spend the night just with the ‘dog’ and the stars, except that is, with the hill being a Munro that usually meant cloud and rain! Most of you will be aware that over recent years the problems of ‘wild camping’ in the various areas around our lochs now means that a group of individuals who have purchased a tent, sleeping bags and mats from one of the cheaper outdoor shops, arrive armed with nothing more than a boot full of booze and perhaps even a chainsaw and spend the next few hours quietly wrecking the place. Of course this isn’t an accurate reflection of all instances, but let me give you the results of a recent ‘litter clean-up’. Carried out and organised by the
‘Friends of the National Park’, after the recent bank holiday weekend, 78 black bags of ‘collectable’ litter were removed, together with sundry other items such as old tyres, wheels, etc. In terms of the human excrement that obviously could not be collected, this was described to me as thoroughly disgusting. That, by the way is not a misprint. It was 78 bags, collected from the east shore of Loch Lubnaig and the north shore of Loch Earn. Imagine the totals had they also had the time and manpower to cover the Balquhidder glen lochs as well as the south road of Loch Earn! A big thank you should be given to all those who took part in this exercise, but you have to ask the question - why is it necessary that local volunteers have to give of their own free time to clear up other people’s rubbish? I’m involved, by being a member of the Community Council, with the 5-Lochs Group, set up by the National Park with the sole intention of improving the lot of the whole National Park area for the benefit of everyone, locals and visitors alike. Some of you may be aware that as of 1st June new byelaws will come into force covering the east Loch Lomond area. In fact awareness has already proved to be of major benefit to the Loch Lomond area, but this also means that our own local area is now getting the kickback from this. In addition the fantastic spell of weather we had throughout much of April meant that people started travelling up to the area much earlier than would normally be the case. So, regrettably, in the short term we are going to have to suffer until such time as we can perhaps get the byelaws extended to include all the local area. Various suggestions have been made about how this problem can be sorted out. Perhaps a zero tolerance on any outdoor alcohol consumption might be the answer. This could benefit some of the local ‘pub’ trade, but may lead to an added problem of perhaps having more people drink-driving back to where they’ve camped, thus creating an added
workload for our local police officers. Perhaps it should be that we have no ‘wild camping’. Thus fishermen can only fish during daylight hours and must then pack up and return home. This penalises the genuine fishermen who want to come to the lochside, relax and watch the world go by. Wouldn’t we all like to do that? I’ve heard of trippers simply wanting to stop for an hour or so to enjoy a quiet lunch being harassed by some of the reprobate element. The purpose of this article is to outline to some extent the problems the local area is encountering in the short term, but rest assured that the National Park together with the police, local landowners, councils and local community councillors are working hard to improve the lot of those living in the area. I’d be delighted to hear views from local residents and if you are aware of specific problems of littering or anti-social behaviour then don’t hesitate to contact the police. They do have limited resources, but they can only act when they are aware of the problem. If it’s litter dumping then please let me know. I’ll take photographs and make them available to the NP authority and the councils. My feeling is that, to use the modern idiom - we’re all singing from the same hymn sheets, only some aren’t quite in tune with local feelings. We’re getting there and to be blunt, the sooner the better. Alistair Barclay
Late arrivals to the Medical Ball... Mr and Mrs Cillin and their daughter Penny... Mrs Royds and her daughter Emma... ... and a leading industrialist in the manufacture of personal hygiene products, Mr Roland E Odorant
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