Published: Tuesday, 14th October, 2008 10:45
Wrangle over River Leven
By Mike Farrell
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Pat Miller and John McLaughlin
Pic by: Stewart Robertson
A LEGAL wrangle over ownership of prime riverside land may be abandoned leaving private ‘owners’ with a lucrative land monopoly.
On one side are business people who claim they have legal title deeds to plots on the River Leven.
On the other is West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) which claims it in fact owns all the valuable real estate.
With multi-million-pound plans in the pipeline to make the link with Loch Lomond navigable for boats there are fears that small leisure groups currently using the river could be forced off by private businesses looking to exploit their assets.
The plan for a canal to run parallel with sections of the Leven would create a continuous water link between Loch Lomond and the River Forth in the east, bringing tourists and money.
It is therefore unlikely that deed holders would give up their claims easily.
Indeed, it was revealed last week, by WDC legal officers, that the chance of court action succeeding is “so low it is not sensible to proceed”.
Titles to sections of the Leven have been sold by third parties — believing it was theirs to sell — over many years, despite a Royal Charter nearly 400-years-old indicating that the council in fact owns it all.
Now WDC will consult with fishing and boating groups before any decision on whether to drop the action is made.
Pat Miller, of Balloch Cruising Club, believes this could be the beginning of the end.
He said: “There’s a lot of history with this, but we are really the last place for affordable boating on the river.
“We welcome the decision to consult with us, as we could all be forced off the river because businesses on the river will start charging us far more for using moorings than we pay just now.”
But SE says it is talking with the community groups about how best they can manage their section of the river.
A spokesman said: “We continue to work in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council and the Park Authority to address the management issues on the River Leven and develop its potential as a key tourism asset.
“The existing arrangements are clearly not working as demonstrated by the number of private boats that have sunk and then abandoned by their owners."
For the full story see this week's Reporter
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