Judges rule to grant access to public

Scotland’s ramblers have won the right to roam againt a wealthy Lichtenstein-based landlord.

Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park Authority won the landmark legal appeal against the Drumlean Estate, which will ensure walkers and others can access the estate which sits between Loch Ard and Ben Venue.

The authority successfully argued that locked gates at the site prevented members of the public exercising their ‘right to roam’ under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

But the Liechtenstein-registered company that owns the land challenged the ruling at the Inner House of the Court of Session.

The lord president of the court Lord Carloway, sitting with two other judges, found in favour of the national park on Tuesday (27 March).

Jess Dolan, director of Ramblers Scotland, said: “Today’s excellent ruling finally brings to an end the landowner’s long-running and unwise attempts to stop people accessing the beautiful Drumlean Estate.

“Ramblers Scotland commends the national park authority for its commitment to defeating this appeal, which had the potential to set a worrying precedent and undermine our world-class access legislation.

“The opinion also usefully clarifies a number of legal points which we believe will make it easier for local authorities and our national parks to uphold Scotland’s access legislation in future when faced with landowners obstructing public rights in this way.”

The case was brought by Vaduz-based company Renyana Stahl Anstalt. German-born engineer Reiner Brach, 78, is listed as director of Drumlean Farms Limited, which was formerly known as Drumlean Estate Limited. The company has been dormant since 2014.