Drink and drug-fuelled anti-social behaviour makes every summer day a misery for Luss residents, it has been claimed.
Calling for urgent action, Dave Pretswell, convener of Luss and Arden Community Council, said that the rising popularity of staycations had increased issues in the village.
The village was overrun during last weekend and into early parts of this week as temperatures reached record levels with dangerously parked cars and bins left overflowing. Locals also reported anti-social behaviour fuelled by drinking and drug-taking and jet skiers causing chaos at the shore.
As a result, local MSP Jackie Baillie has written to Scottish Government minister Lorna Slater, inviting her to a meeting with Luss and Arden Community Council and members of Luss Estates.
In her letter, Ms Baillie says: “Agencies including the national park, the council and the police do not have the resources required to tackle the myriad problems being experienced.
“Residents in Luss welcome responsible visitors, but unfortunately they feel under siege and the response from the national park and the council is insufficient.”
Mr Prestwell said: “The trend of visitor footfall exceeding available infrastructure and management was evident even 10 years ago and has continued to accelerate ever since.
“The Covid-related staycation phenomenon has just pushed things over the edge and now any sunny summer day is a misery for the residents who actually live their lives in the village.
“Our community council and Luss Estates have been in almost continuous dialogue with the national park and Argyll and Bute Council and while we’ve had sympathy and even recognition of the reality of the situation, absolutely nothing has yet changed to improve things on the ground for our residents.
“The situation continues to get worse and is now effectively uncontrolled and beyond the abilities, resources and maybe the will of these agencies to manage effectively.
“Budgets and lack of resources are the repetitive explanations offered for non-performance but represent no excuse. The national park in its literature undertakes to ‘support and nurture’ its local communities – but we’ve yet to see evidence of this in action. We need intervention from the Scottish Government – and urgently.”
Ms Baillie added: “This isn’t a new problem and should be no surprise to Argyll and Bute Council and the national
park.
“What is important though is that action is taken and that is why I have written to Lorna Slater, whose ministerial portfolio covers national parks for help.
“Local residents should not be expected to have to put up with this chaos every time there is a sunny day.
“They live here and deserve to feel safe and secure in their homes. It is not good enough for the people here to be left to pick up the pieces.
“At the shore, jetskiers have engaged in extremely dangerous behaviour in close proximity to swimmers as the national park seems to be unable to enforce existing byelaws, never mind any new proposals.
“This is a serious accident waiting to happen and it would appear that the national park are either powerless to act or have insufficient resources to do so.
“I want to see decisive action by the council and national park and I am hopeful that the Minister for National Parks, Lorna Slater, will urgently meet with myself, the community and the local stakeholders to sort this problem out once and for all.”
Simon Miller, chief executive of Luss Estates, commented: “Loch Lomond is known worldwide as being a jewel in Scotland’s crown – it is something we should all be proud of.
“The purpose of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park is to protect the area for the future; to protect the local communities, the environment, and to promote responsible tourism.
“Based upon the events around Loch Lomond over the last two years, and most recently last weekend, the systems in place are not working and the area needs urgent attention.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman thanked Ms Baillie for her letter.
They continued: “We are clear that Scotland’s valuable natural environment must be enjoyed responsibly.
“The national parks in the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, play a key role in welcoming visitors, informing them of key messages around the climate and biodiversity twin crises and managing some of the impacts of high numbers of people, particularly at popular sites. Both parks now have excellent ranger services to ensure a positive and safe experience for visitors, residents and nature in our parks.
“In 2020 we established a visitor management group to seek a cross-government approach to addressing issues caused at rural pinch points in scenic countryside areas.
“Members of the group and its sub-groups include a range of public bodies including NatureScot and the national parks, local authorities, community interests and Police Scotland.
“It addresses such issues as managing visitor dispersal, littering, environmental damage, public toileting and antisocial behaviour.
“A visitor management strategy for Scotland was published last year.
“Our investment of £3.9million to support rural tourism will help create more than 200 seasonal countryside rangers and operations staff posts.
“The rangers will help tackle issues such as littering, anti-social behaviour and public toileting in rural tourism hotspots through patrols, liaising with local communities, landowners and
police.
“We are currently considering responses to our consultation on our National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. Our proposals include measures to strengthen enforcement, raising of fixed penalties, improving data collection and supporting private landowners and local authorities.”
