The visual impact of electricity pylons in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding National Beauty have been a political issue for some time in England and Wales. In response to public pressure, a £500m UK wide fund was created to help underground powerlines. Scotland was allocated a share of this but development of proposals…
Month: November 2019
I first came across the newly constructed Gynack flood diversion channel above Kingussie by accident in October 2017, when visiting the three hydro schemes on the river. I have visited three times since, all in poor weather (as is evident from the photos!). On my most recent visit I found that the overflow…
This short video was sent to me with the message “take you mind off politics for a moment”! It shows all the wildlife which used a log to cross a stream in Pennsylvania during the course of a year. Most enjoyable – do watch – but I couldn’t escape the political implications. There could hardly…
In September, the local SNP Councillor for North, West and Central Sutherland, Kirsteen Currie (see here), lodged a petition with the Scottish Parliament petitions Committee to create no wild camp zones in Scotland (see here). The petition was prompted by perceived concerns with the impact of camping and campervanning along the North Coast 500 (see…
The Cairn Gorm ski area: Voluntary Organisations call for an open debate about the future A group of voluntary organisations (The Cairngorms Campaign, Campaign for a Better Cairngorm, North East Mountain Trust, Ramblers Scotland and the Scottish Wild Land Group.) has produced a ‘vision’ for the future of the mountain (below). Key elements include the…
I am in Australia, having travelled from a country where soils and vegetation are being washed away by water (see here) to one where they are being ravaged by fire. Both fire and flood have been triggered by extreme weather events which are a consequence of the global climate and environmental crisis. In Australia there have…
The Boat Registration Audit, undertaken by West Dunbartonshire Council, was considered by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s Audit and Risk Committee on 29th June 2019 (see here item 6) “1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY General An audit was conducted on the Boat Registration Process. The review covered the registration and the re-registration process for…
In September the Balavil Estate submitted a Prior Notification to Highland Council to upgrade/create 8 roads AFTER it had started construction work on one of them (see here). By the time of that post Balavil had agreed with the Cairngorms National Park Authority to suspend work on the new road and they had also withdrawn…
[Ed note: for earlier post on this meeting (see here)] Under the Convenership of James Stuart it has become a feature of Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board Meetings that they are held in venues other than Park Headquarters – Callander Youth Project; Brig O Turk Village Hall; Balmaha Visitor Centre and most recently…
Highlands and Islands Enterprises (HIE) last month released estimates for the costs of removal and repair of the Funicular Railway (see here) which was taken out of operation 15 months ago after concerns were raised about the safety of the structure. The “high end” estimate for removal is £13.3M, with a provision of £9.6M in…
The Scottish Government approved the camping byelaws in January 2016 on condition that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority would create new camping infrastructure. 300 new camping places were promised for the first year and the Scottish Government delayed implementation of the byelaws by a year to give the LLTNPA time to put…
After Highlands and Islands Enterprise announced that the cost of repairing the funicular would be cheaper than the cost they claimed would be needed to remove it, I asked them for the basis of this claim. Then, when the response revealed very little, I requested a formal review of their decision to refuse the information…
Prior to the serious flood damage to some of the hydro schemes in Glen Falloch (see here), I had been trying to persuade the Convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, James Stuart, that there have been some serious planning failures in respect to hydro schemes in the National Park which his Board…