Two years Abrdn Property Income Trust (formerly the Standard Life Property and Income Trust) bought 1400 hectares of land from the Ralia and Drumochter Estate with the stated intention of using the land to offset carbon emissions by planting trees. Abrdn were advised on the purchase and the “habitat restoration project” (see here) by Fenwick…
Tag: CNPA
The owner of Akre trees, who has family connections with the Ralia Estate (see here), not only claims to have advised Abrdn on their purchase of “Far Ralia” but to be behind the native woodland project for the estate (see here). Akre also appears lined up to carry out the planting should Scottish Forestry give…
The recreational, environmental and planning disaster in Coire Cas and HIE’s ownership of Cairn Gorm
Some people might at first sight find the new mountain bike tracks running down the lower part of Coire Cas attractive. Certainly Cairngorm Mountain Scotland must have thought so when they posted this aerial photo on their Facebook Page. In landscape terms and from the air the sinuous curves of the tracks certainly look better…
Following my most recent post on the Ralia hill road (see here), I was sent further photos which support my argument that the road upgrade work should have required full planning permission. The Construction Method Statement accompanying the Prior Notification, which was produced by Taiga Upland in conjunction with Kilrie Trees and approved by Highland…
On 30th June the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) issued a news release (see here) stating that Sandy Bremner and Eleanor Mackintosh had been elected as new Convener and vice-Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority on 28th June. The elections were to replace Xander McDade, who had announced earlier in the year that he…
Background The successful re-introduction of beavers to Scotland owes very little to our public authorities and everything to the people who, whether accidentally or not, allowed beavers to enter the catchment of te River Tay. While the official trial in Knapdale floundered – the river system was too small and the catchment isolated so the…
In a recent letter to the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald (29 June, see below) I suggested ways that the management of the land around Loch Morlich and nearby areas in Glenmore Forest Park could be improved to meet public concern over environmental degradation. Such improvement is likely to be far more important than the potential…
Two parkswatch readers have sent in photos of current construction work along the line Old Military Road on the Ralia Estate near Newtonmore. I am most grateful. Six weeks ago Highland Council planners decided that, apart from a new bridge and section of road on either side of this, all the other track “upgrades” being…
A significant row has developed in Glenmore, the most popular place for visitors in the Cairngorms, and various interests are now trying to stampede the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) into initiating measures to ban camping there. This post argues that primary responsibility for the problems in Glenmore lie with Forest and Land Scotland and…
The damage caused by Scotland’s exceedingly high numbers of red deer and muirburn are the two main issues that need to be tackled if we are to tackle the nature and climate emergencies in the uplands. This post takes a look at the three changes in the law the Scottish Government announced yesterday (see here)…
At the beginning of April a planning application (see here) was submitted in the name of Abrdn Property Holdings Ltd to build a “bothy” on Far Ralia, the property bought be the Standard Life Investment and Property Trust before it merged with Aberdeen Asset Management. Abrdn Property Holdings Ltd was registered as a company in…
I spent a couple of days this week on the Rhiedorrach Estate, east of Glen Shee. Walking up to the lovely Loch nan Eun to camp, we only came across this trap because the river was so low we decided to boulder hop across it opposite the Dalmunzie hotel. Two days before we had come…
Parkswatch has now been sent photos from four different readers resident in Kingussie who are concerned about the polluting silt that continues to run down the River Gynack over six weeks since repair work to the overflow started (see here), (here), (here) and (here). The latest was on Monday: “I walked up the River Gynack…
Just over a year ago the Cairngorms National Park Authority approved a planning application (see here for papers) to build “family friendly” mountain bike tracks in Coire Cas at Cairn Gorm. Two magic carpets, to be used as uplift, were constructed just before the start of the winter (see here). The construction of the main…
Silt first started flowing into the Gynack River system, which flows into the River Spey, six and a half weeks ago (see here). I reported and others reported this to both the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA). The CNPA responded that they were not sure whether the silt flowing…
Trunk roads and Scotland’s National Parks (2) – dualling the A9 through the Cairngorms National Park
A few days before Transport Scotland’s latest plans for the Rest and Be Thankful were launched (see here), Fergus Ewing MSP was in the news calling for the dualling of the A9 to be speeded up. Just as with the proposals for the A83, there was no mention of the fact a significant part of…
On 9th May Highland Council issued a decision on the proposals submitted on behalf of ABDN to upgrade the track to Far Ralia and construct an alternative to the Wade Bridge (see here). The way the proposals have been dealt with and the decision itself raise serious questions about how the planning system in the…
In January 2022, Highland Council granted prior approval to a new “forestry” road at Balavil for which there was no justification or need. At the same time I was made aware of large borrow pit which had not appeared on any of the plans and reported this to the Cairngorms National Park Authority (see here). …
[This post has been updated to clarify the difference between the River Spey SAC and River Spey SSSI] While not nearly as bad as it was (see here), the consequences of the engineering works in the Allt Mhor/River Gynack continue to flow down in the River Spey river system. Silt has now been washed down…
On Friday silt was washing down the Allt Mhor/River Gynack into the River Spey Special Area of Conservation from the work to repair to the Pitmain Estate flood alleviation channel. I have been informed that this is not the first time this has happened recently. On 28th April (see here) I commented on how much…
If you have not seen it and care about either conservation or outdoor recreation you should watch this video which was added to the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project facebook page on 11th April (see here). In it, two birders who had come from England to view capercaillie, confess the error of their ways after being spoken…
My apologies. In my post last week on how the Cairngorms National Park Planning Committee had rejected the application for a new road linking Pitmain with Glen Banchor (see here) I had used this photo of the Allt Chaorainn bridge from the Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group. I had then wrongly added the black line…
I was pleased to be quoted in an article in the National on Saturday (see here) about how the Scottish Parliament still drafts legislation designed to exclude the Royal Family and Crown Estate. Twenty 20 years ago outdoor recreational interests successfully fought to close a loophole which would have meant access rights did not apply…
Last Friday the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) Board rejected the planning application to construct a new road round Newtonmore that would have connected the Pitmain and Glen Banchor estates (see here). The video of the meeting is still on the internet, which is contrary to the usual practice of the CNPA but is a…
My post on The bus service and parking capacity at Cairn Gorm (published on Saturday 22 April 2023) received a number of comments on parkswatch and on the Save the Ciste facebook page. Parkswatch is indebted to those who took the time to point out the difficulties and costs associated with the provision of a…