The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 was approved by the Scottish Parliament after lengthy debate on the 23rd January 2003 and it came into full effect on February 9th 2005.

The Access part of the Act gives the public the right of responsible access to most land and inland waterways in Scotland for recreational or educational purposes and to cross over land.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code has been produced by Scottish Natural Heritage. It provides guidance on responsible behaviour by those using and managing access.

The Act states that it is a duty of each local authority to establish a Local Access Forum to carry out various functions. The functions of the Local Access Forum are to advise the local authority or any other person on access rights, to offer assistance with disputes, to advise on the existence and delineation of rights of way, and to offer assistance on the drawing up of a plan of Core Paths. It is also an opportunity to bring together people from different interest groups to share information, discuss and understand different points of view and advise the Council on issues related to outdoor access.

East Lothian’s Local Access Forum has 30 members from groups representing walkers, horse-riders, cyclists, land managers, health professionals, disabled groups, East Lothian Council and other organisations such as Scottish Natural Heritage and the Tourist Board.

There are also sub-groups of the Forum, which look specifically at horse-riding and cycling issues.

A newsletter – Access Issues - is produced periodically, which describes the work of the Forum and Access Officers.