Labour is calling on the Scottish Government to improve the existing regulation of tracks on hills and mountains to prevent them spoiling the landscape. Following concerns raised by the John Muir Trust and the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, Labour has now lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament, with the party’s environment spokeswoman Sarah Boyack describing “engineered mountain tracks” as an “instrusion on our natural landscape”.

Let’s hope that the motion is a success. Here are two examples of indiscriminate bulldozing of landscape I’ve come across in the last few months:

This track is very close to the summit of Carn na Saobhaidhe, an infrequently visited Corbett in the Monadhliath. This is grouse moor territory, so landowners need access, but is this really necessary?

This motorway is on Cow Hill, overlooking Fort William. This was late-October 2009, so the view may have changed. Hideous. You can see the culprit.

With Beauly-Denny given the green light and ever increasing numbers of windfarms getting planning permission, now is the time to push for legislation to protect Scotland’s wild areas.