Landowners and outdoor groups are jointly calling for better resourcing to support Scotland’s world-class access rights - as a new survey highlights alarming cutbacks in countryside access jobs.
Scottish Outdoor Access Network (SOAN) polled all 34 access authorities on how they manage access, a topic which has hit the headlines during the Covid era due to booming numbers of people heading outdoors.
The survey showed that during 2019/20:
SOAN believes the reduction in access-supporting jobs is symptomatic of a wider, worsening trend of under-investment in visitor management.
SOAN stressed that the Scottish Government’s funding for access has flatlined for more than a decade at £8.1million a year - but said that many hard-pressed local authorities are sadly choosing to invest their access allocation on other issues.
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Posted On: 20/11/2020