Reinstate Access to Scotland
Throughout lockdown, we are required to Stay Home, Stay Safe. There is a suggestion that the New Normal will require us to Stay Local. Freedom of movement and social distancing are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, for city dwellers it is arguably easier to achieve a degree of social distancing by taking a walk or drive in the countryside. And, for rural dwellers, it is a necessity to visit towns and cities for services.
Why the contribution is important
Permitting freedom of movement for the rural population of Scotland, from countryside to city, under the banner of essential travel, is not acceptable to city dwellers. It is easily argued that, for purposes of health and well-being, travel into the countryside is essential.
by aloneinthehills on May 06, 2020 at 10:40AM
Posted by Greenside May 06, 2020 at 11:27
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Posted by camerj May 06, 2020 at 11:27
However I do feel that people living in rural communities should be able to move about within their local areas a bit more as, from 50+ years experience you can go within 5 minutes drive of your house and walk for miles and not meet a soul whereas if you don't get into your vehicle and have to walk through the village for your hour's exercise, you will meet more people than you will if you take yourself out of the village.
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Posted by ro May 06, 2020 at 11:34
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Posted by twg8888 May 06, 2020 at 11:35
As the comment above suggests, freedom of movement is vital to many people. And those who live in cities should not be punished and restricted from visiting the countryside.
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Posted by Ballater24 May 06, 2020 at 11:36
The city parks are crammed with folk - better we spread out.
Driving as a family somewhere and staying in our own groups is not a significant risk.
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Posted by Billl May 06, 2020 at 11:42
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Posted by landysaw May 06, 2020 at 11:44
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Posted by sbecker May 06, 2020 at 11:58
Agreed. It is deeply unfair to prevent city dwellers access to open spaces in the countryside, especially given the great difficulty that they inherently face trying to social distance in crowded cities.
From the start of pandemic I have seen an increasingly xenophobic attitude expressed by people in rural areas towards those who live in cities. While I can understand that people in rural areas are afraid that people from cities might increase infections in rural areas with less equipped health systems, that is not actually a reasonable assumption to make.
Compliance across the country with social distancing guidelines throughout the lockdown has been signficiantly higher than expected. Based on this, it is logical to assume people with continue to follow social distancing guidelines while accessing outdoor spaces, as they have done consistently up until now. So to assume people traveling to the countryside with both increase rural area infection rates and place additional demand on rural healthcare services is a flawed argument. As long as social distancing is maintained this will not happen.
On a personal level, I have traveled to the highlands for recreation hundreds of times over the last ten years. Never once have I had to make use of local medical services in a rural community. It is both practical and very easy to follow social distancing guidelines as a city dweller when visiting the countryside, so restricting movement to prevent this is simply not justified.
At the end of the day we are all citizens of the same country with equal rights to access outdoor spaces.
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Posted by creesea May 06, 2020 at 12:10
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Posted by lmg1612 May 06, 2020 at 12:24
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Posted by GeoffDuke May 06, 2020 at 12:47
Therefore i say allow those that normally travel within reason to somewhere for exercise or hobbies, are allowed to do this, but not staying away from home overnight.
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Posted by John1911 May 06, 2020 at 20:16
It simply does not matter if the people walking around the countryside or a village have driven there or not, as long as they behave sensibly. I do live rurally myself, and cannot bear this 'not in our area' mentality that has come to the fore.
The limiting of travel by our government is an unforgivable and uneccesary breach of our rights that I suspect will cost the incumbent political parties dearly when the epidemic's outcome is analysed.
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Posted by ZoeK May 06, 2020 at 21:31
We must learn to live with it.
Social interaction between loved ones must be reinstated with immediate effect.
Mental health and domestic/child abuse is on the extreme rise.
As is violence in communities.
We must think what is best for us and our own.
NO ONE is in control of anothers life.
We can NOT be kept as virtual prisoners no more.
Restore our freedom!
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Posted by Ossian May 07, 2020 at 16:43
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Posted by macmac May 08, 2020 at 07:38
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Posted by LesleyMacKenzie May 09, 2020 at 14:44
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