A Perthshire estate is facing the prospect of enforcement action after council officials declared its blanket ban on hillwalkers accessing four Munros is unlawful.
Perth and Kinross Council has stepped in after the estate blocked public access to the four mountains for a two-month period, a move that has sparked fury among the hillwalking community and outdoor access groups across Scotland.
The council has made its position crystal clear – the ban is not legal, and if the estate refuses to back down, officials are prepared to take formal enforcement action to restore access.
Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, people in Scotland have a legal right to access most land and inland water for recreational purposes, as long as they act responsibly. Blanket bans of the kind imposed by this estate fly directly in the face of that legislation, which has long been considered one of the most progressive access rights frameworks anywhere in the world.
Hillwalking is serious business in Scotland, both culturally and economically. The Munros – the 282 mountains in Scotland standing above 3,000 feet – draw tens of thousands of walkers every year, from locals heading out for a weekend climb to tourists travelling from across the globe to tick peaks off their lists. Blocking access to four of them in one go is not something that was ever going to go unnoticed.
The estate has not publicly explained why it chose to impose the two-month ban, though estates in Scotland have historically cited reasons such as grouse shooting seasons or deer stalking when restricting movement on their land. However, even during stalking season, the law does not permit blanket exclusions of this kind. Land managers are expected to work with access authorities and provide alternative routes rather than simply shutting walkers out altogether.
Outdoor access campaigners have welcomed the council stepping in, with many pointing out that this kind of heavy-handed approach from private landowners is exactly what the 2003 legislation was designed to prevent. Scotland transferred significant power to the public when it came to land access, and estates cannot simply override that because it suits them.
For many in the hillwalking community, the case has reignited a broader conversation about land ownership in Scotland. The country has one of the most concentrated patterns of private land ownership in the developed world, with vast estates covering huge swathes of the Highlands and Perthshire. While many landowners work constructively with walkers and local communities, incidents like this one serve as a reminder that tensions over land use have not gone away.
Perth and Kinross Council has said it hopes the matter can be resolved without the need for formal enforcement, but has left no doubt that it is willing to go down that road if the estate continues to refuse access. Enforcement action under the Land Reform Act can include the council applying to the sheriff court for an order requiring the landowner to comply with access rights.
For now, walkers planning to head to the four affected Munros are being urged to check the situation before setting out, as the standoff between the estate and the council continues to unfold.
The case is being watched closely by access rights groups, who say it could set an important precedent for how similar disputes are handled in future across Scotland.