Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland

Ken Thomson

The OATS Annual Review 2022-23 (see bit.ly/OATSannualreview23) records that:

• The It's Up To Us (IUTU) campaign has raised £151,000 so far, £100,000 from the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, £27,000 from major donors, and £24,000 from walkers, climbers and mountaineering clubs. [A further £50,000 has come from the European Outdoor Conservation Association, a charity set up by outdoor sector companies].
• IUTU has already started work on its first project, on An Teallach, over 3km of the main path. With a 6m damage zone needing work, that´s 18,000 sq m of mess, costing around £300,000. Phase one, at the bottom, needs a "full build": a drainage ditch dug, and the spoil sorted and graded, providing much of the new surface. Phase two involves shorter stretches between bare rock in the middle ground. The last phase will be 2km or so of higher path across rockier terrain, needing "light touch" work only.
• Upland path volunteering was relaunched in 2022, and in 2023 involved 65 volunteers (29% female), 30 sessions (averaging 6 per session), and 137 volunteer days.
• OATS is now past the midpoint of its 2020-25 business plan, which involves developing more car parks in remote locations that generate income through ticket sales, such as the Fairy Pools in Glenbrittle (where the car park has been tarred), Beinn a´ Ghlo and Stac Pollaidh.
• Murray Swapp, an Aberdeenshire-based OATS staffer since 2006, moved to a lead access role within Aberdeenshire Council in March 2023.
• Future work involves: (i) greater recognition of Scottish Government priorities; (ii) urging councils to use the Visitor Levy to core-fund upland path maintenance; (iii) urging the streamlining of the consents and funding process; and (iv) support for technology including remote counters, apps to report problems, and drones recording path conditions