The first decision under the new access law has found in favour of the landowner, Ann Gloag. The issue in the case was the area of land that should be excluded from access for the privacy and enjoyment of the people living in the house. The exclusion area was not determined by her personal circumstances but rather by the features of the property. This area will vary according to the particular circumstances of each property, so this case does not open the floodgates for "private" signs to be restored throughout the country.

This year sees the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Glen Tilt, a confrontation that led to the first major court case to establish the public's rights of access to the hills in Scotland via rights of way. People are still able to use rights of way even in areas where access rights under the new law are excluded. ScotWays has records of more than 7000 rights of way throughout the country and many of these pass through land where access rights under the new law do not apply - eg, close to houses and other buildings.

There will inevitably continue to be issues about where the balance should be drawn between the public's rights and the rights of landowners. But it is a great step forward that no-one now seriously contests the principle of the public's right of responsible access to land where this does not seriously affect land management operations or the owner's privacy. George Menzies Chairman, Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society, 24 Annandale Street, Edinburgh.

SO THE riff-raff are to be excluded from Ann Gloag's Kinfauns Castle estate in Perthshire. It is, indeed, a relief for all who hold dear the rights of the owner of property that those communist upstarts in the so-called Scottish Parliament, an institution that properly voted itself out of existence some 300 years ago when landed chaps followed the precepts of their birthright and took the best deal on offer, have been put firmly in their place. Pass the claret, old chap. - Dr John O'Dowd, 3 Downfield Gardens, Bothwell.

Your headline, "Gloag wins ban on ramblers" (The Herald, June 13), is misleading. Ann Gloag has not banned ramblers; she has merely retained her right to fence off her own property for her own privacy, as other householders do. But because of the current political obsession with giving rights without responsibilities to minority groups, she has been compelled to take legal action merely to retain her own right to privacy. Thank goodness for her success. It is about time that loony left legislation - such as the right to roam, the right to buy and other crackpot schemes - was challenged. - Malcolm Parkin, 15 Gamekeepers Road, Kinnesswood, Kinross.

Congratulations to Ann Gloag for driving a stagecoach through the Land Reform Act. She has demonstrated that power in Scotland lies with wealthy people prepared to use the courts. Landowners will launch hundreds of new cases. - Awaab Raja, 108 Easter Road, Edinburgh.