I NOTE your coverage of the Duke of Buccleuch charging for entry to Dalkeith Country Park (“Duke under fire for charging to access country park”, The Herald, March 10).
Dalkeith Country Park is seeking less than 3p a day from regular users for a pass card, and £1 for one-off visitors, to enter the park. Charges have been levied for a long time at the park and pre-date Scotland’s outdoor access legislation, which effectively means the park is not ground where access rights apply.
The charge is clearly not a money-making venture and should not be represented as such. Instead it is an attempt to manage anti-social behaviour and vandalism.
The estate has invested in improving the recreational experience in the park by providing a new adventure playground and places to eat. Unless landowners can protect new public facilities from vandalism, there is no incentive to provide them at all.
This is not dissimilar to the situation in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park where the park authority is unfairly being accused of acting against the spirit of the access legislation by introducing camping restrictions. Surely the vast majority of the public want to enjoy an outdoors free from vandalism and will accept some reasonable measures which ensure this is what they find.
Anne Gray,
Policy Officer (Environment), Scottish Land & Estates,
Stuart House, Eskmills Business Park, Musselburgh.
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