February 29, 2024 Nick Kempe 1 comment

Following the post from Lynne Somerville of the Balloch and Haldane Community Council about the proposed Vale of Leven windfarm in December (see here),  I am very pleased to be able to report that Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) staff recommended (see here) to their Planning Committee on Monday that they should…

February 28, 2024 Nick Kempe 6 comments

The current position ” Risks associated with reinstatement of the Cairngorm funicular railway were addressed through robust internal and external governance and project management”  (HIE Annual Report 2022-23 as laid before the Scottish Government in October). There was no public news release but last week Highlands and Islands Enterprise let it be known through the…

February 24, 2024 Nick Kempe 3 comments

On 24th November Pitcher Partners, a company based in Western Australia, were appointed administrators for Scotgold Resources and its subsidiaries which operate in Scotland, SGZ Cononish, which operates the Cononish goldmine and its exploratory company SGZ Grampian.  Two weeks ago a reader pointed me to information about two meetings Pitcher Partners held with creditors of…

February 19, 2024 Geoff Riddington 5 comments

In December the Planning Committee of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) unanimously approved the planning application by Mr and Mrs Young to build a luxury holiday lodge on Inchconnachan (see here  for committee report). Initially the application had included a proposal, based on advice from NatureScot, to remove the wallabies from…

February 10, 2024 Nick Kempe No comments exist

Following Peter Page’s post on 18th January (see here) showing the consequences of the failure to provide basic visitor infrastructure at Rowardennan below Ben Lomond , on 6th February the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) published a notice on the Public Contracts Scotland portal (see here).  This showed the LLTNPA had awarded…

February 9, 2024 Nick Kempe 13 comments

On 25th January it was a year and a day since the UK Department for Transport had declared the funicular safe to re-open and exactly five calendar months since the funicular was suddenly closed for safety reasons and to attend to ‘snagging work’. After announcing several dates by when it expected the funicular to reopen…

February 5, 2024 Nick Kempe 3 comments

There appears to have been no public news about what has been happening at the Cononish goldmine since its owner, Scotgold Resources, went into administration on 24th November.  Following my post of 18th December (see here), which described some of the pollutions incidents that had taken place earlier this year and my efforts to bring…

February 3, 2024 Nick Kempe 1 comment

After a number of FOI requests, Rob Edwards revealed in an excellent article in the Ferret on 18th January (see here) that officials at Historic and Environment Scotland (HES) had been considering trying to close the Radical Rd below Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh permanently.  While shocking, that was hardly surprising.  Having fenced off access for…

January 26, 2024 Nick Kempe 11 comments

Following my post on deer fencing and capercaillie on Speyside (see here), a friend and sometime contributor to Parkswatch, Nick Halls, brought to my attention to the latest issue of the Geographer, the magazine of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.  It is all about trees. In it there is an interview with Thomas MacDonell who…

January 25, 2024 Nick Kempe 7 comments

On 20th October Highland Council validated a planning application (see here or ref 23/04700/FUL) to erect a 25m high telecommunications mast high on Creag Dubh between Newtonmore and Laggan. Since Creag Dubh is protected as a Site of Scientific Interest the mast requires full planning permission and Highland Council has the power to reject it….

January 24, 2024 Nick Kempe 4 comments

Gaming the holes in Scotland’s planning system Yesterday I was notified by Highland Council that the planning application (Ref 23/04957/FUL) for a telecommunications mast and 2.4km of track in the Wild Land Area at the eastern end of Loch Mullardoch had been withdrawn.  A small bit of good news. Highland Council has already withdrawn all…