For the first time, in over two years of campaigning, I can report that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority has done the job it was set up to do and, by pursuing the access problems at the Drumlean estate all the way to the Court of Session, they have done everyone in…
Month: March 2018
In a major embarrassment for the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority the Lennox Herald reported over 118 trees were chopped down last week on land which the Park manages and provided an excellent photo of the damage (see here). While its unclear at present who was responsible for this, the extent of the…
Yesterday the Cairngorms National Park Authority called in a planning application (see here) for a dry ski slope by the Coire Cas Car Park at Cairngorm which had been lodged at Highland Council by Cairngorm Mountain Ltd, whose registered address is now Wilmslow in Cheshire. The idea of a dry ski slope here was originally…
The Allt Essan and Auchessan hydro schemes lie on the north side of Glen Dochart south of the Munros Meall Glas and Sgiath Chuil. Both were approved by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority in December 2014 but the Auchessan design was subseqently amended in 2015 (see here and here). While both schemes were…
In the Battle for Scotland’s Countryside last week (see here), David Hayman presented a brief history of the struggle for access rights leading up to our access legislation and then looked at three subsequent access disputes. On first viewing, I was a bit disappointed with how these were covered: the film of David Hayman entering…
The existing Cairngorms Forest Framework is ten years old and the Cairngorms National Park Authority have been consulting on a Cairngorms Forest Strategy to replace it (see here). The document sets out the “strategic direction on future forest management and the restoration of woodlands in the Cairngorms National Park over the next two decades” with…
The day of my post about the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority becoming a camping management authority (see here), the article above appeared in the Herald. Proof, if you want, that what I said is not the whole story and a reminder – if one is needed after the Cononish gold mine decision…
The Cairngorms National Park Authority meeting today has a fairly limited agenda (see here): an informative report from their Chief Executive on what has been going on; a four year corporate plan, a one year operational plan together, somewhat strangely, with a (welcome) paper on not paying Board Members who fail to attend meetings; a communications…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board Meeting on Monday morning was a laughable experience (see here for all papers). The camping byelaws now dominate almost everything the National Park does, even if LLTNPA Board members don’t appear to appreciate this, to the exclusion of what it should be doing. The laughs came…
Companies House, the part of Government responsible for registering and dissolving companies and filing information, including accounts, required by the Companies Act 2006 is under-resourced and ineffective. As a result often basic information which would help the public, shareholders or public agencies to understand what is really going on in a company is not available,…
After my visit to Firkin Point last Sunday (see here), I submitted a formal complaint about the toilets still being locked two days after the snow had gone when on the LLTNPA website it had said: “Opening toilets at Firkin Point from 1st March to be in line with the start of the camping season”. …
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s report for Ministers on the first year of the campiing byelaws (see here) was a spin job based on assertions and half-truths rather than facts. This week I have obtained through Freedom of Information some of the facts I suggested almost six months ago should be included…
Last week on Tuesday the LLTNPA Board unanimously agreed to give the go ahead to the Cononish goldmine. That they did so tells you everything which is is wrong about our National Parks in Scotland. That they did so unanimously tells you that there is still something seriously wrong with the LLTNPA Board. That…
I have been engaged in constructive correspondence with the HIE Chief Executive, Charlotte Wright, about what is going on at Cairngorm. While I welcome her willingness to engage, so far this has done nothing to prevent the mismanagement of Cairngorm Mountain continuing, while there is now significant circumstantial evidence suggests that “Natural Retreats” are heading…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s new camping byelaw “season” started last Thursday, unnoticed in the midst of the chaos created by the “beast from the east”. It was announced in a wonderful piece of parkspeak, “National Park prepares to welcome campers as byelaws come back into effect” (see here). A strange welcome you…
The consultation on the Cairngorms National Park Authority Main Issues Report ends tomorrow. Following previous posts (see here) and (here), this post takes a closer look at housing, which plays a prominent role in the report and features within a number of the Main Issues identified. Main Issue 2 Designing Great Places The Report notes…