Established in 1994, the National Access Forum was a revolution. It provided a platform for discussing and resolving access issues at a national level. It was formed by Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) as a non-statutory body and brought together representatives from the recreational, land management, and public sectors.
Initially, it focused on the land, then a second forum focusing on water, the Access Forum (Inland Water) was established in 1996, and between them, they did outstanding work including developing a national Concordat on access to Scotland’s hills and mountains, establishing the Hillphones service to help reduce conflict between access users and deer stalking and publishing ‘Calmer Waters’ which guided managing recreation on inland water.
Most importantly, the two forums came together to work on the Scottish Government’s idea of a statutory right of access to land and inland water, both the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 contained a provision to create local access fora, many of which had already been created by local authorities across Scotland, but there was no provision for a National Access Forum.
The National Access Forum discussed whether it should continue its non-statutory role or disband. The decision, thankfully, was to continue and today the National Access Forum still meets regularly to discuss outdoor access matters at a national level.
The mix of users, land managers, and public sector bodies have continued and through the use of short-term sub-groups, possibly involving non-forum members, including subject specialists, they have continued to provide national-level guidance and provide a wider overview than a local access forum could.
The reconvened National Access Forum has developed guidance on signage for access management, mediation, informal camping, and outdoor events.
A secretariat for the National Access Forum is provided by NatureScot and all meeting papers and guidance documents are published on the Scottish Outdoor Access Website.
