Hilltracks Campaign

The Hilltracks group met with the Scottish Government's Chief Planner, Assistant Planner and Head of Development Management Team to discuss the on-going concerns about hilltracks and whether the Scottish Government remains committed to considering hilltracks as part of its review of permitted development rights. Briefing note sent ahead of this meeting is available to view in the Resources section of our website.

SE LINK Hilltracks group writes to the Planning Minister and Chief Planner asking that the Scottish Government includes hilltracks within Phase 3 of the review of Permitted Development Rights, as previously committed to in 2019 and 2022. You can find the letter and an introduction to its contents in the Resources section of our website.

In Spring 2021 we were expecting the consultation into Permitted Development Rights for hilltracks (as part of Phase 3 of the Scottish Government's Review Programme on Permitted Development Rights). The Spring 2021 date for consultation was a postponement of the earlier, expected 2020 consultation. However, it now seems the consultation will be postponed until 2022.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority has consulted on and published new guidance on responsible ATV use in the National Park. The Trust and members of Scottish Environment LINK's Hilltracks Group welcomes this guidance, which sends a signal to land managers about responsible land management.

In September 2020 the Scottish Government published its Programme for Reviewing and Extending Permitted Development Rights. We took note of this publication as we expected hilltracks to be included because they are categorised as a form of Permitted Development (this means planning proposals for hilltracks are not subject to the full planning application process and have a shorter, faster route to receiving planning approval). The published Review Programme confirmed that the review of hilltracks has been 'temporarily postponed' to Phase 3.

The Scottish Government has said that as this is “a subject of significant public concern” it will look again at this issue. This will take place as part of a major review of “Permitted Development Rights” which is now getting underway. More information about this and opportunities to get involved will be available here as it becomes available.

In June 2019 changes to legislation proposed by Andy Wightman MSP were voted down in Parliament, in spite of hundreds of letters of support from concerned members of the public. These changes could have helped to stop the creep of tracks further into wilder and sensitive landscapes and habitats, improve their siting and design, and give people more of a say in what tracks are built where.