RAMBLERS Scotland has raised concerns about the National Park's recently approved Camping Development Strategy.

The Strategy,which was approved on October 24, sets out plans to create hundreds of camping places across Loch Lomond and The Trossachs that will support the new camping bylaws coming into effect in the National Park on March 1, 2017.

Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority said of the plans: “We are delighted the Your Park Camping Development Strategy has been approved by the National Park Board.

"The programme of investment outlined in the Strategy is vital to the Your Park project, which aims to protect our fragile, beautiful loch shores and improve the experience of people camping, visiting and living in the National Park.”

The Camping Development Strategy seeks to protect the busiest and most heavily used loch shores as the Park Authority has spent years dealing with the problem of destructive camping.

However, Ramblers Scotland, a body dedicated to maintaining access for the public to the outdoors, has voiced concerns about the strategy. Director Brendan Paddy said: “We recognise that the large numbers of visitors causes pressure on individual areas, and we support the authority’s plan to provide more camping infrastructure and to better educate people about enjoying the park responsibly.

“However, these plans are disproportionately dependent on an untested permit scheme that will charge people to camp in previously-free areas, in some cases without providing any new toilets, drinking water or bins in return.”

Another of the Ramblers' concerns is that the park will sell 229 permits for people to camp at designated spots within the bylaw zones, but in many places there will be no extra facilities such as bins, drinking water or toilets in return.

Gordon Donaldson, Head of the Forest Enterprise Scotland team in Cowal & Trossachs, has kept the focus on the benefits of the Strategy, saying: “We are proud to be working with the Park Authority on protecting the National Park and improving the visitor experience, first on East Loch Lomond, and now with the new plans set out in the Camping Development Strategy.

“Our campsite at Sallochy Bay has been successfully protecting the loch shore environment and creating a great, safe, informal place to camp for five years. This is the model for the new site that will be built on our land at Loch Chon.”

Although they will be fixing up a lot of areas the strategy will also deal with providing a high quality camping experience, alongside other forms of access and recreation. It dictates that 300 camping places will be made available by the time the new bylaws become operational in March and how they will be delivered.

Mr Watson is also hoping to get more young people and holiday-goers involved in the outdoors, he told The Reporter: "I think having created all this, we're keen to create opportunities for young people who are living in urban areas to come and enjoy the outdoors and the park.

“They might not normally think of it as an option because it just doesn't come into their head but we want to get it out there and make it known to them."

"We get a lot of visitors from central Scotland and abroad as well so we want to make it a great place for them to visit."

"We have so many opportunities for recreation, we have the Great Scottish swim to support the outdoor swimming, there's always something that we want to promote."