The Cairngorm National Park Planning Committee saw fit to grant Cairngorm Mountain [Scotland] Ltd (CMSL), Highland and Island Enterprise’s wholly owned subsidiary, permission to set up a Campervan Park in Coire na Ciste on Cairn Gorm. That consent was granted on 21 May 2021.

CMSL indicated to the planning committee that they might be able to have it up and running by the end of July. However, it didn’t open for business until Monday 6 September so revenue from the main holiday month of August was lost as well as the opportunity to provide a new facility for tourists.

Parkswatch has previously had a look at the condition of the Coire na Ciste car park and environs (see here) and (here).  This post takes a look at:

1. What has been done to Improve the condition of the Ciste car park and environs.
2. The facilities that have been provided for Campervan/Motorhome owners/renters who choose to pay £15 for a 1-night stay.
3. The usage rates within the Ciste Campervan Park and the displacement to other locations.

The condition of the car park and environs

The ring main cable has not been reburied [despite Scottish & Southern Energy Networks saying that it would be, during the summer, which is now over] and the ‘Danger of Death’ notices remain in place. Note how the sandbags are now all burst…waiting for the winter rains and snow-melt to wash the sand away.

First impressions that owners/renters form as they drive into the car park will not be good.   Some screeding work has been done but it does little to improve the ground conditions within the campervan park.

It is clear that nothing meaningful has been done by HIE or CMSL to improve the car park or environs in advance of the campervan park being opened for business and they continue to be in a demonstrably poor state.

 

Facilities

There is a coded entry system whereby users received the code to open the gate after they have paid the fee for parking the night in there.

Inside the ‘compound’ users will find nicely clad bins for disposing of rubbish in an environmentally friendly manner.

There is also a water supply

There is some dubiety about whether or not it can be called ‘clean’  Can that be considered to be acceptable, given the hefty £15 per night charge.

There is also a ‘grey water’ disposal facility

The clean and grey water facilities are very close together.  A commentator on CMSL’s facebook page suggested the two are too close and there is a risk of the clean water facility being contaminated.  Instead of answering the concenrs, CMSL staff  removed the comment.

Apart from these facilities, there are no electric hook up points so no recharging can be done.  There are also no toilets/showers or a café bar. Notably, the Ciste building does have power and water and could be reconstructed to provide these facilities. Regrettably, HIE [as owners] have twice gained planning consent to demolish and partly reconstruct the building but they’ve allowed that consent to lapse…twice. How difficult would it be to get plans made for a nice new building and offer the services that would greatly enhance the product/service offering and doubtless lead to considerable increased usage of the park by allowing those without onboard toilet to stay there?

The creation of a small campsite for tents would also be beneficial, as has proved to be the case at Glencoe Mountain, but the noticeboard tells campers to keep well away………potentially displacing them into the important areas for capercaillie below!

 

Usage Rates

The numbers using the car park were monitored over the 7- day period from Friday 10 September to Thursday 16 September.  Additionally, the numbers parking up in the Coire Cas car park and at the side of the ‘down’ road were also noted. Observations were made at around 7pm each evening so they do not take account of any later arrivals.

22 campervans were recorded in the Ciste site over the period. That was made of 1, 4, 6, 0, 3, 4 & 4 from Friday to Thursday.

During the same time period, there were 71 campervans recorded in the Coire Cas car park.  That was made up of 8, 14, 14, 9, 9, 10, 7.

In addition, a total of 52 campervans were observed  parked along  the verge on the ‘down’ road.

In studies done by the Save the Ciste campaign over four separate 1-week periods in 2019 and 2020 it was noted that the number of campervans in the Ciste car park was: 59, 97, 133 & 87. During the same time periods the numbers parked in the Cas car park were: 3,18, 23 & 19. The greatest number recorded in the Cas car park on any evening was 8.

Perhaps CMSL expected that campervan owners/renters would simply continue to use the Coire na Ciste car park and be happy to pay £15 per night for a dodgy water supply, a grey water disposal facility and some bins to dispose of their rubbish. If that was the case then they could not have been more erroneous in their judgement.

There is no quality here and discerning customers are entitled to expect much better than what is third-rate apology for a campervan park. Although it is very early days, the Ciste campervan park is clearly being avoided by the overwhelming majority of users who have simply decamped to the Cas car park and the down road where they can park up for free. The statistics tell that story very clearly.

What needs to happen now

1. The Scottish Government should take note of yet another expensive waste of public funds and take the decision to remove HIE from all Operational and Strategic decision-making on Cairn Gorm. Enough is more than enough.
2. The members of the CMSL Board of Management must have agreed to this failure and they should each consider if they have the skills to make successful strategic decisions.
3. The Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust should be invited to take over the entire Cairngorm Estate and business thereon. They need to be given a free hand and sufficient public funding must be provided to enable them to sort out the ongoing shambles and put the business into a self-sustaining position [rather than HIE’s ridiculous business plan that provides for an ongoing subsidy over the next 30 years]
4. The Coire Ciste building needs to be redeveloped so that toilets and showers are available. A café bar would be a great enhancement.
5. The other dilapidations around the campervan park require to be rectified.
6. No attempt should be made to ban campervans from the Coire Cas car park or the Down Road. CMSL has no need to alienate another group of potential customers as has been the case with snowsports enthusiasts.

Only by making the required improvements can the campervan park have any realistic hope of being a commercial success.