The results of the local member elections for the Cairngorms National Park Authority, which take place by post vote, were announced on Thursday 23rd March and confirm that the voting system in both our National Parks is in urgent need of reform (see here for the elections to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park…
Tag: Governance
Last summer the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National ParK Authority (LLTNPA) advised those who had responded to its much delayed (see here) Outdoor Recreation Plan (ORP) tthat it had decideded to incorporate it into the next National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP) (see here). The draft NPPP is to be considered by the LLTNPA Board today, prior…
The Scottish Government is currently advertising for six new board members for the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) (see here) and a new chair for Scottish Natural Heritage/Nature Scot (see here). Further changes in the composition of the CNPA Board are pending with Local Member elections due next month and with the Convener, Xander…
In my second post on the byelaw review, issued yesterday morning (see here), I included data on boat registrations supplied by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) in response to a Freedom of Information request in June 2021. Having spent several hours checking the claims made about jet skis in the Review…
[NB Part of this post has been updated following the claim at the LLTNPA board meeting that the FOI response for 2022 only gave part year registrations and numbers increased considerably after that date] The single greatest flaw in the the Loch Lomond bye law consultation process, which I touched on in my last post…
On Monday, a special meeting of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) is being held to consider and approve a report to Scottish Ministers proposing revisions to the byelaws which govern boating on Loch Lomond (see here for papers and to get a link on the day to watch the meeting, which…
In my post about how Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL) have “all the gear, no idea” (see here), I mentioned that as far as I know there is only one person in Scotland with the necessary qualifications to operate a ski resort. I then decided to have a look…
On Tuesday Raptor Persecution UK had an excellent guest blog from Bob Berzins about the persecution of raptors in the Peak District National Park (see here). This explained that part of the reason for the National Park Authority’s failure to address this illegal persecution is a lack of transparency and accountability to the public, particularly…
James Stuart, the convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), has to step down in February having been on the board for eight years. At the LLTNPA Board Meeting on Monday Heather Reid – the former broadcaster known to many as Heather the Weather – was elected to replace him. That…
What’s going on? In 2018 after the funicular failed and Cairngorm Mountain Ltd ceased trading, Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE) stepped in and set up Cairngorm Mountain [Scotland] Ltd (CMSL) with a share Capital of £100. In an effort to keep the snowsports business going, HIE quickly purchased a TechnoAlpin SnowFactory and eight TechnoAlpin TR8…
As I mentioned in my recent post on greenwashing (see here), James Stuart, the soon to depart convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, was in July appointed by UK Government Ministers to the Lakes District National Park Authority. On the LDNPA website (see here) Board Members are portrayed as “the voice…
This post take a further look (see here) at the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s attempt to sell off its Visitor Centre at Luss, in the light of the discussion and decision made at the Board Meeting on 26th September and responses to Freedom of Information Request (FOI)s. I argue that the…
Hidden away among the many comments on Flamingo Land’s Planning Application is a letter from Emma Yendell, Estates Manager with the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) (see here). While comments from other Public Authorities are mostly highlighted as such, this one from the LLTNPA is marked as “correspondence” and easy enough to…
At the end of my post about multi-millionaire David Moulsdale’s purchase of McGregor’s Landing in July (see here), I included an update on the new driveway to Ben Cruach Lodge that he had unlawfully created off the A82. Having initially taken enforcement action as a result of public pressure, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National…
[Post updated 22nd September].After the planning application to build a telecommunications mast on Carn an Fhreiceadain in the Monadhliath Wild Land Area was withdrawn for the second time, following a significant number of objections, I commented (see here) that it was impossible to know if Savills or the Pitmain Estate would come back again. Six…
Last week news emerged (see here) that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) was proposing to sell off its former visitor centre in Luss. A paper was to be considered by the Board Meeting scheduled for today (see here) but, due to the death of the Queen, that meeting has been postponed…
Cover-up, incompetence, negligence or all three? At the end of my post in May (see here) I stated that the Scottish Government appeared at last to be realising that the business case presented by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for the repairs to the funicular railway was not as comprehensive as it should have been….
As the UK Government and possibly the British state continues to unravel, today is local member election day for the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA). Back in May, when I wrote a series of blogs on democracy in the National Park (see here, here and here), I had hoped the parkswatch could play…
A day after the initial consultation (see here) about creating a new National Park in Scotland closed, there was a Scottish Government sponsored debate in the Scottish Parliament on the issue, introduced by the responsible junior Minister, Green MSP Lorna Slater. (You can view the proceeedings here or read the official report here). While there…
Yesterday the revised planning application from Flamingo Land to develop Balloch was published on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) planning portal (see here). The main differences to the planning application that was submitted in 2018 and then withdrawn in September 2019, just before the LLTNPA was due to consider it, is…
[Apologies, I made an error in my explanation of the law below and have updated this post. A full understanding of Board membership requires interpretation of the 2000 Parks Act, which is less than clear in this area, and incorporation of the separate designation orders and modification orders for the two Parks] Under the National…
Last month, in a great piece of investigative journalism (see here), Rob Edwards from the Ferret obtained a copy of a document called the “Salisbury Crags Rock Risk Management Options Appraisal 2021” from Historic Environment Scotland (HES). This revealed that HES are seriously considering trying to close the Radical Road in Edinburgh permanently. Although I,…
Who can stand? Following my post Democracy and voting systems – the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park local member elections I was pleased to see earlier this week that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) amended the erroneous information they had posted on their website which suggested only local residents could…
It turns out that the financial disaster at Cairngorm is going to be even worse than Parkswatch predicted (see here). Not only are the funicular repair costs increasing but, as Martin Williams revealed in the Herald on Sunday 9 days ago (see here), there is no money to pay for this, let alone the annual…
Four years ago, I blogged both before (here) and after ( here) the last set of Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) local member elections, arguing there was an urgent need for their Board to consider how the election of local members could be made more democratic in future. Having followed every meeting…