Landowner duties
What responsibilities do landowners have under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003?
All landowners have a duty to use and manage their land in a way which respects access rights.
SOAC says the main responsibilities of land managers are:
1. Respect access rights in managing your land or water
2. Act reasonably when asking people to avoid land management operations
3. Work with your local authority and other bodies to help integrate access and land management
4. Take account of access rights if you manage contiguous land or water
You can ask people to:
- Avoid routes whilst work is going on
- Avoid undertaking specific operations if the work creates serious or less obvious hazards.
Prohibition signs, obstructions etc
Landowners must not prevent or deter access by erecting signs, notices or fences. Local authorities have the power to remove or make safe such notices.
For more information on this please see our leaflet – please print out, fold and keep in your records.
Exemption of land
Local authorities have the power to exempt land from access rights. Applications can be submitted to exempt land for up to five days for the purpose of holding agricultural shows etc for which entry is charged. Land may also be exempt for between six days and two years but for this applications must be sent to Ministers for approval.
For more information on this please read our leaflet – print out, fold and keep in your records.
If you are a landowner or land manager and would like further advise on this or anything relating to access please contact the access team or visit the Outdoor Access Scotland website.
