WILD LAND NEWS 75 Similarly, the larger‐scale Heriot‐Watt re‐ port concluded that Permitted Develop‐ ment Rights for vehicular tracks should be “universally withdrawn” (p8) within protected areas, and that “if open land‐ scapes with semi‐natural vegetation are mapped, PDR should then be withdrawn from all private vehicular ways within them” (p9). Furthermore, the upgrading of non‐vehicular tracks should require planning consent, as should the broaden‐ ing of existing tracks beyond their current boundaries. Finally, the report recom‐ mends the imposi‐ tion of “a general condition that any incidental or conse‐ quential damage to adjacent ground be made good” (p9). The Permitted Devel‐ opment status granted to agricul‐ tural developments suffers from an obvi‐ ous defect in itself – the GPDO does not define agriculture, and so offers no ba‐ sis on which to dis‐ tinguish a track’s pur‐ pose. Even if it did, of course, a prospec‐ tive track‐builder merely has to claim that an agricultural purpose will be Beinn Bhuraich track, Corriegarth Estate, June 2009 served, and he may Photo: Alex Sutherland proceed entirely un‐
should be entirely precluded here; a po‐ sition that was also adopted by last De‐ cember’s official report on the Local Plan Inquiry, which stated that “there should be a core within which there would be a presumption against any development including the intrusion of tracks” (p59). The absence of such a presumption rep‐ resented “a defect which should be recti‐ fied before this local plan is progressed to adoption” (p60).
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