Kinfauns Castle was the site of the first test case of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Ramblers Scotland, along with Perth & Kinross Council, opposed the application by Mrs Ann Gloag to exempt an area of around 12 acres from statutory rights of access. Mrs Gloag was successful in her application, and today you have no statutory right to walk on this land. However, there was much public outrage in response to the judgement, and we have taken the opportunity to raise many issues with Parliament.
Background to the case
In summer 2005, Stagecoach founder Ann Gloag erected an unsightly seven-foot high security fence around her home at Kinfauns Castle, near Perth, in advance of obtaining the necessary planning approval. Historic Scotland was not consulted over the planning application and subsequently protested, describing the new fence as having a “significant and detrimental impact on the designed landscape” of Kinfauns. The controversy generated extensive media coverage.
The fence is about a mile long and encloses around 12 acres, including a substantial tract of native woodland. Some unusual conifers can be found here, including one specimen described as “the best swamp cypress in Scotland”. Perth & Kinross Council agreed with us that statutory access rights applied to most of the woodland area enclosed by the fence, including several old paths, an area of around 4 acres. This was disputed by Ann Gloag, who applied to Perth Sheriff Court on 1st June 2006, under section 28 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, for a “declarator” that access rights did not apply within the fence.
We believed that if Ann Gloag were to win this case it would set a dangerous precedent which could be used by other landowners in Scotland who wished to exempt land from statutory access rights. Indeed, this was the case at Boquhan estate, when Euan Snowie attempted to exempt 40 acres of his land from statutory rights of access, a case we won with Stirling Council in April 2008.
The Kinfauns case came to court in October 2006 and we faced significant costs as we employed legal representation and gathered evidence. As a result, we established our Legal Defence Fund. This fund will only be used to pay legal costs relating to Scottish access problems. It will enable us to react quickly to cases as they occur, without the need for individual appeals.
The court case started on 23rd October 2006, and the sheriff's judgement was finally published in June 2007.You can read the judgement here.
Related media articles
- Group attacks castle defences, Courier 10/02/06
- Tycoon's 'security risk' claims, BBC 23/10/06
- Long lens photos of tycoon home, BBC 30/10/06
- Tycoon's home security 'is vital', BBC 27/11/06
- Break down barriers to our right to roam, Observer 3/12/06
- Tycoon 'ignored' access law claim, BBC 3/01/07
- Court hears high protection claim, BBC 4/01/07
- Court hears argument for right to roam, Courier 4/01/07
- Do we really have the right to roam? The Herald 14/06/07
- Multimillionaire uses financial muscle to bar ramblers from woods, Guardian 14/06/07
- Rambling laws may be re-examined, BBC 14/06/07
- The right to roam was a flawed idea, Observer 17/06/07
- Ramblers will not challenge Gloag ruling, Herald 5/07/07
- Ramblers and council told to pay £200,000 Gloag costs, Herald 6/07/07
