In a recent post on the proposed telecommunications mast at the western end of Loch Mullardoch (see here), I criticised the organisations which have rightly formed a coalition agains the Shared Rural Network programme for not campaigning hard enough to protect Scotland’s finest wild land from descretation. Those organisations – I am a member of…
Tag: hill tracks
I am not sure when I first saw the bright green plastic tree tubes on the left of the A82 heading north from Crianlarich but on Saturday I stopped to have a look. The site is much easier to access than previously as in 2020 the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority granted planning…
A week ago Iain Cameron copied me into his tweet on a track on the Glenure Estate on the eastern side of Ben Sgulaird. He was right, it is monstrous. His tweet has now attracted over 65K views, an indication of the level of interest from people in what is happening to the landscape of…
The UK Government, landowners and telecommunications masts – the landscape and environmental impacts
Who benefits from the telecommunication masts? The spate of new telecommunications masts which, as George Allan from the North East Mountain Trust explained on Monday (see here), threaten some of Scotland’s finest landscapes are intended to eliminate “total not spots”. They form part of the Shared Rural Network programme and are being funded by…
After my last post on ABRDN’s disastrous planting proposals for Far Ralia (see here) I was phoned by Renwick Drysdale of AKRE trees (see here) asking to meet so he could explain to me what they are trying to do. Unfortunately, I am out of Scotland for most of the six weeks but agreed to…
On 23rd June the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority issued a decision to Fountain Forestry UK Ltd that Prior Approval was not needed for “Construction of 800m of new forest track, upgrade of 330m forest track, formation of turning and stacking areas, upgrade of 2no existing bridges and construction of 3no small span…
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…
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…
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…
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)…
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…
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). …
[Update 3rd May: this map, which was contained in the Committee report was incorrect, it shows the 4.83km of proposed new track but the application extended west and included a new bridge over the Allt Chaorainn to the left of the Parking symbol]. The Planning Application for a new “forestry” road, which would connect the…
This post takes a further look at what is going on at Far Ralia which was bought in September 2021 by the Standard Life Property and Investment Trust (SLIPIT), renamed the ABDN Property Income Trust last summer. The Wade bridge First, a little good news. The gate that featured in my post on the Far…
[Update. Apology for the reference to Standard Life in the headline. SL merged with Aberdeen Asset Management and are know known as ABDN although their Investment and Property Income Trust kept the old name till last year]. I have been watching the Standard Life Investments and Property Income Trust (SLIPIT)’s plans for the part of…
Last week I had a bad week for various reasons. I not only misinterpreted some of the data about boating use on Loch Lomond (see here) but also a notification from the Cairngorms National Park Authority about the withdrawal of a track application close to Newtonmore. I mistakenly thought this applied to the revised track…
On 4th November the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) notified all those who had commented that the proposal to create a 4.83 km road linking the Pitmain and Glenbanchor Estates, allegedly for forestry purposes, had been withdrawn (on 27th October). In a post the following day (see here) I highlighted the lack of any explanation…
The title of the Scottish Government’s consultation, “Wildlife Management in Scotland” (see here), which closed yesterday, was very revealing. Despite the nature emergency and the Scottish Government’s commitment to protect 30% of the land by 2030 (see here), there were no questions about how natural processes could be restored or we might reverse the catastrophic…
Yesterday the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) notified those who had commented on the proposal by the Pitmain and Glen Banchor estates to build 4.83km of “forestry roads” above Newtonmore (see here) that the planning application had been withdrawn. Good news! Yet the reason why the application “has been withdrawn from the Cairngorms National Park…
Following my post about the Pitmain Estate’s proposed telecommunications mast on the Corbett, Carn an Fhreiceadain (see here) I contacted the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) about the application and took the opportunity to ask what was happening with the proposal to create new roads linking the estate to Glen Banchor (see here). At the…
Although I have been over and around Beinn a’ Bhuird several times I had never walked up the line of the infamous road which, in the last century, became a cause celebre among wild land campaigners. Adam Watson was at the forefront of recording and raising awareness of how wild land was being eroded by…
A couple of days after going to look at the botched Beauly Denny construction road restoration (see here) while walking north of Carrbridge, I came across a more recent example of SSE’s work to upgrade Scotland’s network of powerlines. Another landscape horror. In 2018, while visiting the Auchtertipper native woodland creation scheme on the Reforesting…
A couple of hours after after my encounter with a young peregrine on Sunday (see here), I came across a run of river hydro scheme along Wounddale beck north east of Ambleside. What caught my eye was that the pipeline between the intake and the powerhouse had been left above ground: My initial reaction was…
I had been wanting to visit Glen Etive to take a look at the seven hydro schemes being constructed there since John Sinclair, a local resident, had alerted me to the environmental damage that was being caused before Xmas (see here & here) This post takes a look at the landscape impact of the hydro access…