Service Director Regulatory Services

Brian Frater

Service Director Regulatory Services

Dear Community Council

the scottish borders outdoor Access Forum Tuesday 20TH MAY 2014

Do you walk, cycle, horse-ride, canoe or own/manage land? If the answer is yes to any of these, we would like to invite you to attend your Local Outdoor Access Forum ‘Open Meeting’.

In the Scottish Borders we are lucky enough to have a huge, accessible outdoor access network. We have over 1,000km of promoted paths, such as the Southern Upland Way, St Cuthbert’s Way and many shorter, town-based path networks. Integrated with this path network and accessible are over 1800km of public rights of way, various countryside & heritage sites, watercourses and, of course, the wide-open countryside.

Managing public access in the Scottish Borders is important as it: supports the needs of communities; provides practical access to towns, villages and other areas; assists our valuable tourism and recreational industries; helps stimulate our local economy; assists with environmental and land management issues; and provides opportunities for sustainable transport. The Scottish Borders Outdoor Access Forum is an important guiding influence that helps Scottish Borders Council to manage public outdoor access under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

If you represent a local community group, an activity group, a tourism group, a land-based or water-based organization, or are indeed a walker, cyclist, horse-rider, canoeist, farmer, landowner or just have an interest in the outdoors, we would like to invite you to join the Scottish Borders Outdoor Access Forum ‘Open Meeting’ at Old Gala House, Scott Crescent, Galashiels TD1 3JS (6.30-8.30pm).

If you would like to learn more about accessing the outdoors or managing land responsibly, come along.

Light refreshments will be available. Please RSVP.

Further advice on the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code is available from www.outdooraccess-scotland.com or by contacting one of our Outdoor Access Team (Tel: 01835 825060 email: )

Should you require further clarification please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours Sincerely

Neil Mackay

Senior Access Officer