I have been pondering further what Roseanna Cunningham, the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, said about more evidence being needed before the Government can act to protect mountain hares (see here) when I believe action could be taken in our National Parks now. Roseanna Cunningham never…
Month: November 2016
Last year, between June and August, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority commissioned Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) to undertake a litter audit in the four proposed camping management zones. I have been asking for the audit report ever since under FOI and last week, 13 months later, after another enquiry was told it…
On 24th November the Scottish Government finally announced it has agreed the permanent re-introduction of beavers to Scotland. Despite beavers being role in improving water quality, flood prevention and promoting more diverse habitiats and species, all objectives of the Scottish Government, the “decision” was far from a foregone conclusion. The whole process shows the power…
It turns out I was wrong to say in yesterday’s post on the protection of mountain hares (see here) that at least the Cairngorms National Park Authority keeps minutes of meetings……………… Raptor Persecution Scotland revealed later in the day (see here) that the minute had been taken by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association not the National…
Last week Raptor Persecution Scotland reported on the OneKind demonstration against the slaughter of mountain hares outside the Scottish Parliament on the 17th November: “Environment Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham addressed the rally and said the Scottish Government opposes mass culls, that legislation to protect mountain hares has not been ruled out, but that the…
Anyone who responded to the Your Park consultation or followed the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park plans for new campsites will recognise this photo of tents pitched on wooden platforms. While this slide from the secret LLTNPA Board Meetings (see here) reveals this was this was a specific proposal for the Ardvorlich Estate it…
Well paid jobs in rural areas in Scotland are few and far between and what I found the single most shocking single fact in the draft Cairngorms Partnership Plan was that the average wage in the Cairngorms National Park is 23% lower than the Scottish average. A consequence of this is that when developers…
The slide shows that soon after the Your Park consultation – which failed to mention the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park was planning for a permit system despite the fundamental implications this had for access rights – the Park had developed its thinking on permits to such an extent that it was considering…
This slide provides a crude summary of the Park’s data on camping activity within the four proposed management zones. Its not surprising, its what anyone who camps or goes to the countryside knows, most camping takes place in summer (despite the midges!). It raises though serious questions about why the The Loch Lomond and…
Natural Retreats included this graphic in its announcement that its guided walks to the summit of Cairngorm had stopped for another year. It tells us a lot of what is going wrong at Cairngorm. The walks cost £20 a shot which means Natural Retreats earned £36,640 from them…
A month ago I received a response from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority about their involvement in the west Riverside side and Flamingo Land. In their letter eir-2016-051-responseb the Park have tried to defend their integrity as a planning authority and their ability to make an independent judgement on the Flamingo Land…
The Cairngorms National Park announced last week it has won a planning quality award for the extension of the Speyside Way from Aviemore to Kincraig (http://cairngorms.co.uk/planning-award-for-speyside-way-extension/): “The judges praised the Park Authority for its partnership working, community consultation and sheer determination over a decade to develop the best off road route to connect Aviemore…
Following the Scottish Information Commissioner’s decision (see here) that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park should have to disclose the presentations given to the Board at its secret meetings to develop the camping byelaws and undermine access rights, the Commissioner’s staff said they would check that the Park had given me ALL the slides. …
Following my post on “How to protect wildlife in our national parks” I have been thinking about how the Cairngorms National Park could achieve its stated objected of landscape scale conservation on the Dinnet Estate where I walked in September. I have since used it to illustrate the connection between grouse moors and rural…
This slide (see here for background) was presented to the secret Board briefing session on 15th September 2014, just a few weeks before the formal launch of the Your Park consultation in October 2014. Its significance is threefold. First it shows the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park were considering a permit system BEFORE…
After the dire debate in the UK parliament about the public petition to ban driven grouse shooting which took place on 31 October http://markavery.info/2016/11/02/debate-thoughts/, the debate in the Scottish Parliament on 10th November on the Species Champions initiative (on Scottish Parliament TV (see here) offered some hope for those who are concerned about nature conservation…
A few hours after yesterday’s post on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Decision (see here) and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s failure to provide me with the slides presented at the secret Your Park Briefing Sessions, I received them by email (see here for accompanying letter). This is not a coincidence as the Park…
On 6th October the Information Commissioner for Scotland ordered the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority in Decision 209/2016 (see here) to provide me with written information from ten Board Briefing Sessions that had developed the camping byelaws which it wanted to keep secret. It was only when I received a letter from the…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority on Monday 24th October approved what it called a camping development strategy, all 27 pages of it, along with a ten page Board paper. Prior to the meeting I showed (see here) that the strategy would create a huge shortfall in camping places in the National Park…
I have just returned from a rock climbing holiday in Spain, a first for me. Its a beautiful country although the coast between Alicante and where we were staying, inland from Valencia, has been well and truly been trashed. Its not difficult though to find examples of facilities and treatment of visitors which are far…
Following the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s planning approval of the Loch Chon campsite (https://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2016/09/26/loch-chon-con-goes-planning/) I submitted further FOI requests to try and understand better what I believe is a stupid decision and a waste of resources. For a long time now been treating all my queries about the management of the…