A retired police mountain rescue team member has demanded action over the barricaded bridge in Perthshire beauty spot the Hermitage.
David MacDougall is urging Forestry and Land Scotland officials to meet a commitment to remove the barrier.
David says officials gave him a verbal promise to reopen the route at the popular attraction when they met in July. The picturesque stone bridge crosses the River Braan.
The meeting followed The Courier highlighting the issue earlier this summer.
But the bridge remains barricaded shut with the Scottish Government forestry agency claiming that no final decisions have been taken.
‘Extreme frustration’
David has now written to MSP and deputy first minister John Swinney to press his case.
He said: “This sums up my extreme frustration with what I see as a government body trying to string things out to n’th degree.
“As they have been doing for the last 13 plus years.”
He said he understood there were health and safety concerns around reopening the route.
“As an ex member of a police mountain rescue team, I can safely say I have handled more casualties than the average person and I would not seek more.
“However, the site we are talking about could, with some minor adjustments, be used with care by responsible people.”
The Dukes of Atholl created the Hermitage as an addition to the landscaped gardens around nearby Dunkeld House in the 18th Century.
Today it is a hugely popular stopping off point on the A9 and is well-used by the local community.
David branded the makeshift barrier fixed across then stone “brutal”.
Why did forestry bosses block the Hermitage bridge?
Forestry officials blocked off the 200-year old footbridge at the heart of Perthshire’s Hermitage more than a decade ago.
Landslips between 2009 and 2011 collapsed the path on the south side of the river.
Officials shut the circular route. Walkers, however, continued scrambling through. That led to workers barricading the bridge on health and safety grounds after a further slip in 2011.
“It could be opened once again to become a truly wonderful circular woodland walk,” David added.
Mr Swinney’s constituency office has received David’s letter and is in the process of setting up a meeting with him to discuss the contents in more detail.
A spokesperson for Forestry and Land Scotland, said: “Various possibilities were discussed at a site meeting but no formal decision on opening the path has yet been taken.
“Any decision – and any action required – still needs to be agreed with other partners.”
Conversation