A solicitor has been ordered to remove a platform over the River Tummel because it stops anglers flyfishing for salmon.
Branislav Sudjic, of Moulinearn, near Pitlochry, has been given three months to dismantle the eight-metre deck opposite the prime grounds.
Following a two-year court battle Sheriff Principal Alistair Dunlop said the structure, opposite the popular Moulinearn Pool, prevented casting and interfered with anglers’ access.
Mr Sudjic, a solicitor in Kirkcaldy, built the deck over the bank of the Tummel in 2003 but was taken to court by a Linlithgow syndicate of anglers, Tummel Valley Leisure, which has had fishing rights in the area for two decades.
They claim the deck gets in the way of casting lines, removes 60ft of riverbank from which they can fish and prevents them walking along the water’s edge.
Although they lost their initial action, the group successfully showed the decking makes flyfishing difficult, prevents them traversing the banks at high water with cumbersome equipment and restricts their ability to “play” and land fish.
They appealed to the sheriff principal, who issued his judgment in their favour. He said, “There is part of the pool which can no longer be fished by fly and can now only be fished by spinning.
“It is therefore necessary to have access to the bank at the point at which the decking has been erected if one is to be able to fly fish the whole of the Moulinearn Pool.
“It is clear that the part of the pool which can no longer be fished by fly is where the salmon rest and lay up and, accordingly, is where the most productive fishing is to be had.
“I think…in relation to this pool, there is material limitation on the appellant’s ability to fish by fly as a direct result of the erection of the decking.”
He added, “The person having the right to fish for salmon…is entitled to have such access to, and use of, the banks of the river as are necessary for the beneficial enjoyment of that right.”
He said although there was no economic loss to the group, they could not enjoy the most popular form of salmon fishing.
“The appellants have a right to fish the whole of the Moulinearn Pool by fly and the erection of the decking has had the effect of restricting that right and, what is more, restricted it in relation to the most productive part of the pool.”
Mr Sudjic, who was married to local councillor Eleanor Howie until her death in December 2008, was unavailable for comment.