THE National Park board member for Luss says a better approach to tackling litter is one of his top priorities for the next four years.

David McCowan won a postal vote earlier this month to represent the West Loch Lomond and Balloch area on the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park’s board until 2022.

It will be a third term on the board for David, and he admits it is likely to be his last.

But for the Arden man, who is also chairman of Luss and Arden Community Development Trust, there are challenges to be met.

These include the ongoing issue of litter in the National Park, which has been highlighted in recent weeks as the tourism season reaches its peak.

Currently, the park authority and local councils share the responsibility for the emptying of bins and collection – but David told the Advertiser he wants to see a more co-ordinated approach to tackling one of the park’s biggest headaches.

David said: “Thank you to all those who voted for me. I am excited and flattered to be re-elected to the board against such notable opposition.

“There are a number of issues to be overseen – some already moving along, like the summer camping restrictions, and others I would like to see researched and debated and then, if beneficial, initiated over the next four years.

“Board members tend to meet four times per year, so time is of the essence for me, as this will likely be my last term.

“The whole country and world has problems with litter, particularly areas like the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park that have massive and unpredictable fluctuations in visitor numbers, normally weather driven.

“I think the starting point is to enable one authority to be responsible for litter, not three or four overlapping each other.

“I suggest the park takes the lead, but it will need to be given the financial means to enable it to do so.

“This will need to come from other authorities’ budgets and be reasonable. Then they could provide more bin capacity and higher frequencies of collection.

“On top of this there will also have to be the acceptance that litter does need to be picked up too. In short, for an effective litter strategy, I believe substantial funds need to be available.

“To me the ‘education’ route on litter is throwing good money after bad. It also strikes me as strange to ask people to take litter home to a place where their domestic bin collections are being reduced. Where are they going to put it?”

The challenge of litter removal is not the only issue David, who has several business interests in the area, is keen to tackle on his return to the board.

He added: “I believe the size of the board should be reduced. Seventeen members seems too high for an organisation with such a tiny budget, but trying to get board members to vote for their own job loss will be a challenge.

“We also need to monitor the impact of the camping restrictions and be flexible to adjust strategy when and if needed.

“Given this year’s hot weather, I look forward to seeing the statistics, as it will surely have been tested.

“I also wish to see a reduced rate of sick days and absenteeism across the park authority.

“While it may be better than the public sector average, it still seems notably high.”

David said his views were expressed on a personal level and were not necessarily those of the park authority or its board.