Committee
Public Petitions Committee, 31 May 2006
31 May 2006 · S2 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
New Petitions
Speed Restrictions on Inland Water (PE964)
Johnny North:
Watch on SPTV
Also, much uncertainty has been created by the review of the byelaws. There is evidence that people are deciding not to buy a boat because they do not know what the situation on the loch will be in the long term. The uncertainty will be permanent, given that the byelaws are to be reviewed every three years. People will not invest money in a boat if there is a possibility that the area they can use will be restricted.It is disheartening that not one of the 25 park authority members has taken a trip to Windermere to see what happened there. I will give you a brief history of the scenario in the lake district, which is different from the set-up in Scotland.The people who used Windermere were told that, if they did not make a fuss when Coniston, Derwent and Ullswater were shut down, they would always be allowed to boat on Windermere. I am sorry, I get very emotional about this; it was an incredible decision. The speed limit on those lakes was then restricted to 6mph and no fuss was made about it. The decision then came to close Windermere completely to any boat travelling at over 7mph. I have spent a lot of time at Windermere researching what has happened down there. The minimum estimate is that £10 million has gone out of the local economy. Committee members may have seen on the news that the park authority is in a financial mess; it is shutting down visitor offices. A survey was done at Windermere as part of the consultation. In its report, Arup said that the boat owners in the area reckoned that the average boat owner pumped £3,300 into the local economy through staying in hotels, spending money in pubs and so forth. Obviously, we are not at that scenario at Loch Lomond yet, but the original byelaw proposal was to shut off the whole middle section of the loch to 7mph. That would have had a phenomenal effect on the local economy. At the moment, the increase that is proposed in the byelaws means that there is still uncertainty. Where is the park authority going to go with this? It will have a huge knock-on effect on the loch. People have not really addressed the effect on the local economy as yet, but we have to think about it. We also have to remember that one of the original ideas behind the national parks was to look after the people who live in the park area. At the moment, the park authority's actions are having a detrimental effect on the people who live within the park.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Our next new petition is PE964, by Kevin Lilburn on behalf of Fair Play Loch Lomond, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to...
Kevin Lilburn (Fair Play Loch Lomond):
Thank you for that introduction. My colleagues and I are humbled to share this meeting with the petitioners who went before us. Ultimately, we are talking ab...
The Convener:
Lab
Thank you for a highly comprehensive introduction. I invite questions from members.
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
I declare an interest. I have met the petitioners before because Loch Lomond is in my constituency and that of Sylvia Jackson.I have no issue with the propos...
Kevin Lilburn:
We certainly welcome any reduction in the scope of the original proposals. The figure of 8 per cent is slightly misleading because it relates to the total su...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
If we are to believe what the park authority says, the measure is designed to protect sensitive areas, which are those around the islands in the middle of th...
Kevin Lilburn:
I draw your attention to another submission that you should get today, which is a summary of the ecological impact report on the loch. The report is the nati...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
That is interesting. I notice that you did not mention jet-skis. Let me just probe that. To judge the matter on the basis of my constituency mailbag, I have ...
Kevin Lilburn:
I did mention jet-skis; I used the generic term, "personal watercraft", which covers them.
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
I missed that.
Mr Gordon:
Lab
Good politician.
Kevin Lilburn:
I agree that the issue comes up time and again. The first thing that I would say is that, if that is the issue, we should have a debate about that and not ta...
Johnny North:
Strathclyde police force has bought a jet-ski this year, which is great news and which could change the situation incredibly. The present patrol boat cannot ...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
That is interesting.
Kevin Lilburn:
In the committee's discussion of the previous petition, an issue was raised about a gap between policy and practice. We are in the same situation. The policy...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
I am hoist by my own petard.I have one final question. Sylvia Jackson and I have formally requested a meeting for all parties with the Deputy Minister for En...
Kevin Lilburn:
Can I have two things? First, I would make an amendment about young people. It is important that, when young people have an opportunity to express their sens...
John Scott:
Con
I have visited Loch Lomond, which is a beautiful place, but I do not know a great deal about it. Can you say what the driver is for the new byelaws, when the...
Kevin Lilburn:
That raises several issues. A lot of the impetus for the changes came towards the end of 2004, when the implementation of the Windermere restrictions became ...
Mr Gordon:
Lab
I am a townie, but like many Glaswegians, on sunny summer weekends—which we get about twice a year—I have been known to drive my family to the east shore of ...
Kevin Lilburn:
The situation would certainly be alleviated if the current byelaws were rigidly enforced. One of the problems with jet-skis is that they tend to stay close t...
Mr Gordon:
Lab
So, I should go to Loch Katrine or Loch Ard in the future.
Kevin Lilburn:
If ultimate peace and quiet is your goal, you have the option to do that.
Mr Gordon:
Lab
You must bear in mind the fact that, to a Glaswegian, peace and quiet is a relative term.
Kevin Lilburn:
Indeed.
Lawrie Lilburn (Riparian Owners of Loch Lomond):
I have been involved on the loch for a very long time. In 1987, when jet-bikes—personal watercraft, but I still call them jet-bikes—first started to appear, ...
Kevin Lilburn:
I should clarify that 800 jet-bikes are registered to use Loch Lomond—anyone who wants to use the loch must register their vessel. That does not mean that th...
John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD):
LD
I appreciate that jet-bikes can be annoying on a quiet Sunday afternoon, when people are having a picnic with their families, as Charlie Gordon did.In your s...
Kevin Lilburn:
There are two reasons, both of which are economic. Boat numbers reached an all-time high at the end of the 1980s, which to some extent reflected the trend fo...
Johnny North:
Also, much uncertainty has been created by the review of the byelaws. There is evidence that people are deciding not to buy a boat because they do not know w...