Campervan Hostility

I have just discovered the facebook page of Cameron McNeish, "writer and mountain bum", who is writing a lot at the moment about the hostility towards campervans in Scotland.  His facebook page is well worth a browse, and I especially recommend reading the post which starts with:

 "I must admit I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by those community and regional councillors who think the only way to deal with the burgeoning numbers of campervans and motorhomes is by creating bylaws to ban them. The excuse is that campervanners leave litter and faeces behind them."

Day parking on Tiree. Our croft campsite was nearby for the evening/night. See my post on Tiree for more details on camping there

I have been discussing, experiencing and pondering the issues of increased numbers of people in the countryside. I admit, I'm pretty good at moaning about things, but what the whole of the UK needs right now (not just Scotland) is some progressive action. Here is a comment which I wrote on Cameron's post:

What is finally becoming clear to me is that any hope of a "cognitive fix", or "educating the public" to be responsible campervanners is a lost hope. And I work in environmental education!

I agree that the majority of campervanners leave no trace, but with an influx of Brits unable to be the typical "Brits abroad" we now have some who are leaving despicable messes in our wild places. Do campervan companies need to take more responsibility? Ialso totally agree with you that the bylaw in Loch Lomond has worked as a "structural fix" there, but has only moved the problem elsewhere. Yet with a National Park status and an army of rangers, perhaps the problems of mess being left were better tackled there? As a river kayaker at University from 2007-11, I regularly camped at Glen Etive and I don't remember it being terribly busy at all, or seeing much mess there. How times have changed.

However, we have to accept that the UK is simply overpopulated, and we will probably never be able to function like Scandinavian countries when it comes to just being able to park up and live the van life - or certainly not in the busier "honeypot" areas. This breaks my heart to say. In these places, we need some options for people.

I grew up on a west coast peninsula which had one campsite and a lot of hostility towards those who didn't use it. I then holidayed in the Hebrides and saw the forward thinking that was happening there - little spaces with signs saying "park here overnight for a small fee", or bigger car parks with a small fee paid to the local crofter. This is certainly what is needed.

As other people have also said, a lot can be learned from other countries. Pretty much every second vehicle in NZ is a campervan, and they have excellent Department of Conservation campsites dotted all over the country, costing very little money, and some are free. We need more systems like this, not bylaws, which, I feel, takes away a basic human right.