Hi,
I am looking to understand if access rights granted under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 confer the right to be on and cross land to access a hut. For example when needing to cross a tract of estate owned land to get to my land with the hut.
Given the act grants the right to be on private land and cross private land in Scotland for ‘recreational purposes’ (subject to various constraints and a necessity for responsible conduct) it would seem reasonable to me that this right applies to accessing a hut.
I will be reviewing the available case law and asking about this at the Hutters Rally on Saturday, however if anyone knows the answer and if any legal precedents have been set please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks!
To follow on from my original post; I have reviewed the case law articles on Scotways (https://scotways.com/ken-category/lra-cases/) and can’t find any that relate to the situation referred to in my original post.
I have also informally discussed the matter with someone I regard as a subject matter expert, who (while not able to give formal legal advice as they are no longer practicing or insured for doing so) did not raise an objection. They even stated in regards to the hut build that ‘taking materials to the building site in a non-disruptive way (and not using motorised transport) would probably be alright, provided the route you choose is not otherwise excluded from access and you go directly to the site of the hut.’ Clearly the key word there is ‘probably’.
Therefore in my opinion access for recreational purposes is facilitated by the act. I guess I will just have to see how I get on and if the adjacent estate owner decides to object and whether a case law ruling becomes necessary. Hopefully that can be avoided!
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