View Full Version : parking and diving
There seems to be a run of parking issues at certain dive sites
does anyone know how the law stands on this (I thought that under scottish law you can use a private road to gain access to walk ways etc,.) but how does this go with parking on private roads or so called private roads
If a road is private, then it's private property and you could be trespassing.
The only 3 problems I've had in 6 years diving are:
1. MOD reef;
2. Portencross
3. Wemyss Bay by the Kintyre
As far as I'm aware, all three are public roads, so as long as you've paid your road tax, you're in the right.
MOD reef seems to be a hot spot for r-sole behaviour by a certain local logging contractor at the moment. Someone checked it out and posted on this forum that that is definitely not a private road ... I'll go look for the post ...
If a road is private, then it's private property and you could be trespassing.
The only 3 problems I've had in 6 years diving are:
1. MOD reef;
2. Portencross
3. Wemyss Bay by the Kintyre
As far as I'm aware, all three are public roads, so as long as you've paid your road tax, you're in the right.
MOD reef seems to be a hot spot for r-sole behaviour by a certain local logging contractor at the moment. Someone checked it out and posted on this forum that that is definitely not a private road ... I'll go look for the post ...What sort of problems did you encounter at Portencross & W Bay, Gord?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1600000/images/_1602705_victorbbc300.jpg
Mr Flibble
09-12-06, 22:16
I believe Undercliffe Road at Weymess Bay is a private road. I've not had any hassle here before as long as your considerate, don't block driveways and leave no mess or bear your ar*e the locals seem quite obliging. However all it takes is one idiot to wind up the locals and everyone else gets hassle.
There is a looney at MOD reef who walks around with a carrier bag claiming it contains a pair of soiled pants that he claims he has just found in the woods, then accuses you of leaving them there. This happened to us once and I heard he did the same to another crowd a few weeks later. He claims his dog ate some human excrement and nearly died. At first we were very sympathetic but he clearly just didn't want ANYONE near the place and had concocted this tale so we ignored him and he went away.
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/access/approvedcode050604.pdf
The above link might be of interest. In Scotland we have a statutory right of access to most areas.
The 'faeces' man wrote to BSAC and SSAC with similar claims some years ago. AFAIK BSAC branches were advised to be aware of the potential for conflict and to avoid confrontation if at all possible. It seems however, that he may be breaking the access code if he acts unreasonably in trying to prevent you exercising your access rights provided you yourself are acting reasonably.
There is a looney at MOD reef who walks around with a carrier bag claiming it contains a pair of soiled pants that he claims he has just found in the woods, then accuses you of leaving them there. This happened to us once and I heard he did the same to another crowd a few weeks later. He claims his dog ate some human excrement and nearly died. At first we were very sympathetic but he clearly just didn't want ANYONE near the place and had concocted this tale so we ignored him and he went away.
LMAO!!!! .....
I
There is a looney at MOD reef who walks around with a carrier bag claiming it contains a pair of soiled pants that he claims he has just found in the woods, then accuses you of leaving them there.
Begs the question; How did you convince him of your innocence? :o
dive granny
12-12-06, 20:53
Begs the question; How did you convince him of your innocence? :o
DNA? Could be a suggestion to him;)
There may be new info coming soon on this one. Mark Anderson has been in correspondence with the Argyll & Bute council over this, and they have investigated the allegations against divers and found in favour of the residents. It does indeed look as if some people have been defacating in the area ...
I'm awaiting permission from Mark / the Council before I publish the council's email to Mark on this website. But I can confirm that it doesn't look good for divers... and the gist is: one or two bad apples have created this situation which now plays against all divers visiting that location ...
Bit of a bummer, if you pardon the expression ....
craigdiver
13-12-06, 13:56
Bit of a bummer, if you pardon the expression ....
Yes, pretty s#!tty situation :-(
CraigDiver
There may be new info coming soon on this one. Mark Anderson has been in correspondence with the Argyll & Bute council over this, and they have investigated the allegations against divers and found in favour of the residents. It does indeed look as if some people have been defacating in the area ...
I'm awaiting permission from Mark / the Council before I publish the council's email to Mark on this website. But I can confirm that it doesn't look good for divers... and the gist is: one or two bad apples have created this situation which now plays against all divers visiting that location ...
Bit of a bummer, if you pardon the expression ....
Er, and how precisely do you positively identify a diver's shite? Does it fizz in water? Do the soiled pants have 'DiveRite' or 'Beaver' on them?
I'll reiterate this, AFAIK you have a statutory right to wander pretty much where you please in Scotland with very few exceptions. No-one should be defecating unnecessarily and leaving it around, that's nasty, but I cannot see how that can be held against one particular group of people without very strong evidence and I cannot see how one particular group of people can be universally excluded from a location unless it falls within the few exceptions allowed.
I'd be interested to see the email from the council and you needn't wait for their permission to publish it, anyone one of us could insist to see it directly from the council under FoI. I'd like to see how they propose to restrict access and specifically to restrict access for divers only. Unless the area falls within the 'curtilage' of a house I don't think they can.
I don't mean to piss anyone off here but I get any number of 'Farmer Palmers' phoning me up all day at work and I don't believe I or anyone else should be subjected to that when they are going about their lawful recreation.
Having worked in the fine town of Oban a couple of years ago, I found that the local councillors, very much like many of their counterparts in the Central Belt would always find in favour of the local residents...
Something to do with votes I was once told... Didnt quite understand how logic, reason and a Glasweigen accent could get in the way of the most simple matters...
We fell out...
Still really like Oban tho'...
Gas Guzzler
14-12-06, 22:29
There used to be an Aberdeen based comedy Trio called Scotland the What.
In one of there sketches about the election they had the line. " I'm just a District Councilor, not a professional comedian"
GG