Tag: landscape

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 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…

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for a telecommunications mast and 2.4km of track in the Wild Land Area at the eastern end of Loch Mullardoch had been withdrawn.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 Highland Council has already withdrawn all…

December 20, 2023 Nick Kempe 5 comments

The Balloch and Haldane Community Council, who resigned en masse after backing the Flamingo Land development, is back up and running again with new people. That is a very good thing for the local community and Parkswatch is pleased to support their work by featuring this article by Lynne Somerville, their vice-chairperson, which is also…

December 13, 2023 Nick Kempe 4 comments

byOn Monday objectors to the proposal to build a  telecommunications mast in the heart of Torridon (see here) were informed the application has been withdrawn. A small but significant victory which shows that the roll-out UK Government’s Shared Rural Network programme is far from a foregone conclusion. There had been 92 comments from the public…

December 4, 2023 Nick Kempe 6 comments

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…

November 9, 2023 Nick Kempe 7 comments

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…

November 6, 2023 George Allan 12 comments

  Planning applications are coming in thick and fast for 25 metre communications masts in remote hill country in Scotland as part of the UK Government’s Digital Connectivity Programme – the Shared Rural Network. Some appear to have almost no public benefit and are proposed for Scotland’s finest landscapes. Anyone for near to the Falls…

October 5, 2023 Nick Kempe 4 comments

The Luibeg mast planning application Yesterday the planning application for the proposed telecommunications mast above the Luibeg bridge on the Mar Lodge estate (see here) was temporarily withdrawn by the developer “in light of recent consultation responses received“.  The application was rapidly developing into a test case for plans to erect similar masts (with access tracks…

June 15, 2023 Geoff Riddington 6 comments

The Draft Partnership Plan from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) has now been published (see here) and I have become convinced it should not be accepted without very significant changes. As it stands it fails completely to lay out how the Park should proceed in order to achieve its third objective:…