Scotland’s statutory right of access, commonly referred to as ‘Right to Roam’, is something for Scotland to be proud of however, it only works if properly upheld. In the Scottish Parliament back in June, Ariane Burgess MSP raised concerns that local councils are struggling to meet their statutory duties to uphold access rights due to funding restrictions.
In a Parliamentary question, she asked the Scottish Government “what funding allocations it has made, and plans to make, to enable local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties to uphold the statutory right of access to outdoor spaces, commonly known as the right to roam.”
Shona Robison (Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government) responded that council funding is not ring-fenced, and it is up to individual councils to allocate the total financial resources available based on local priorities, once they have met their statutory obligations.
This, however, misses the point that protecting access rights is a statutory obligation of local authorities.
Burgess stated that:
“The sad truth is that, although Scotland’s legal right to roam is world renowned, the system for upholding such rights has never been in a worse state. A big reason for that is the way that money is allocated to local government. The number of council access officers has halved in the past 20 years, and many local authorities are failing to do even some of the most basic things, such as host a local access forum. The result is that public complaints are going unanswered, and people who want to enjoy the great outdoors are finding that their rights on paper mean little on the ground.”
This decline in the number of Access Officers in Scotland comes at a time when access to nature has never been more important. A recent study, reported by The Guardian, found that human connection to nature has fallen by 60% in 200 years. Without urgent action to reform funding and support for access, we risk not only losing the practical ability to enjoy Scotland’s landscapes but also undermining the efforts that went into creating the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, which sets out the access rights that Scotland has today.