As the Land Reform Bill works its way through Parliament, I’m starting to feel that some people are a bit too pleased with themselves about the issue, without following through on the actions required.

It’s a bit like setting climate change targets but then missing them every year, or backing a community campaign at election time and then forgetting about the issue once the votes are counted.

Since devolution began there have been big steps taken toward land reform. Old bits of feudal law were done away with, a modern land register was created (but still needs to be completed) and legal access rights were created so that people could walk, climb and camp much more freely. Huge numbers of people enjoy exercising these rights, and while February might not be the best time of year for it, I’m sure that some of you will have spent time this winter checking over your outdoor gear and making plans for when the better weather arrives.

But it’s not good enough to congratulate ourselves for a progressive land reform agenda. We need to act like we still mean it.

The new Land Reform Bill contains some positive measures, like bringing shooting estates into the business rates system. But it’s pretty incremental stuff – nothing in it looks likely to make a difference to Scotland’s incredibly unequal patterns of land ownership. It’s thought that the Land Register could be completed within the next ten years, giving a clearer picture of who actually owns land in Scotland; but the SNP Government is unwilling to prevent ownership being registered by obscure companies based in secretive tax havens. There will be some minor updates on the management of common good land, but the full overhaul that’s really needed isn’t being contemplated, which is a missed opportunity.

Most recently, the decision by Scottish Ministers to issue a ban on camping in huge areas of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park will leave many people wondering what on earth happened to the radical achievements of earlier land reform campaigners. There are certainly examples of problems like antisocial behaviour and littering by a minority of people who camp in the Park, but it’s been shown elsewhere that there are far better ways of handling those problems than simply punishing everyone who enjoys the outdoors responsibly.

If this kneejerk reaction is allowed to stand, the next step will be more bye-laws aimed at walkers or mountain bikers, or actions by private landowners seeking the same “protection” from public access that the National Park is being given.

The Scottish Government must get the message loud and clear, that the principle of public access to our land is too important to sacrifice.