Public access to property questioned by landowner

The Courier, 25 May 2002

A Fife landowner who has questioned the local authority’s claim that part of the Fife Coastal Path near Kingsbarns is a right of way yesterday raised doubts over the whole question of public access to private property.

Peter Erskine, of Cambo, whose land contains significant stretches of the coastal path, made it clear that he might have to rethink his attitude to provision of facilities such as community woodland.

The row blew up as a side issue to an unsuccessful request from the organisers of the DunhiIl Links Tournament for temporary closure of the coastal path and an alternative inland route on the Kingsbarns Links.

During the debate the council claimed that the path was a right of way, but Mr Erskine responded by stating that it had “no legal status whatsoever.”

The council stood its ground and said that the path had been used by walkers to connect Kingsbarns and Crail over a period of 20 years, but now Mr Erskine has fired off a further salvo.

He said landowners found themselves in a position “heads we lose, tails the public win”, and if people were allowed to walk over land for a period of 20 years then the owners’ rights would be gone for ever.

Mr Erskine pointed out that he had an area of community woodland which formed a “loop” off the coastal walk, and he now wondered what would happen after people had been allowed to use it for 20 years.

He said that the walk was a lovely one which was well used by the public, and that it had already been open for about five years.

He added that there appeared to be a double standard at work which penalised people like him because his “garden was bigger.”