Dear LLTNPA,

In May I visited the Loch Venachar quay site off the Invertrossachs Road where you installed a new carpark with gates last year, just outside Invertrossachs House, the home of your convener Linda McKay.   I note that the trees on the quay, which were not in the original plans, were growing particularly well – I suspect that whoever did the work was instructed to feed the trees with a large dose of fertiliser.  I normally love trees – indeed I have been criticised by readers of my posts for promoting trees at the expense of deer – but here they are a symbol of everything that is wrong with the National Park.   This quay, hard to see in the photo, was gifted to the people of Callender for their enjoyment and handed over to LLTNPA on the creation of the National Park.   People used to camp here but in a couple of years, when the water in the loch is high, it will no longer be possible for anyone even to walk to the end of the quay.  Should our National Parks be about planting trees at the expense of people, to keep out the hoi polloi, to stop access?.

So, here’s to the people of Callender using the new powers of the Community Empowerment Act to re-assert their right to land that was gifted for their enjoyment.