HIE and Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd – unaccountable and out of control

December 30, 2020 Nick Kempe 10 comments

Four days after its damp squib of an official opening on 19th December (above), Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL) announced that it was shutting up shop indefinitely (see here),  but also that it had decided to lock the snow gates at Glen More for good measure, making it very hard for anyone else to enjoy Cairn Gorm.

The decision, which was apparently made by its Board in consultation with the police and Highland Council (Cllr Bill Lobban is both on the Board of CMSL and Convener of Highland Council), is almost certainly unlawful.  The road up to the Coire Cas car park is a public road and, under the Road Traffic Acts, Highland Council, as the Public Roads Authority, has a duty to “manage and maintain all such roads in their area”.  This generally means keeping them open to the public except in specific circumstances.

There is a provision in the Road Traffic Act 1984 to close snow gates (see here) “when snow is rendering or has rendered that road unsafe for such traffic; and where in the opinion of a constable such an occasion has arisen as respects a road he (or, where the constable is a chief constable, a person acting on his behalf) may, until the road is once again safe for vehicular traffic, close and secure any snow gate on the road against all such traffic except that engaged in the provision or restoration of essential services.” 

However, the statement from CMSL’s management (see here) makes it clear that snow is NOT the reason why the gates have been locked:

“We understand the desire of locals to use the access road during winter. However, the First Minister informed Parliament yesterday that she fully expected to announce further restrictions in the coming days in order to do all that is possible to attempt to contain the transmission of the new strain of the Covid virus as it is seeded all over Scotland. She advocated that only essential travel should be undertaken and within a very small local radius.”

In other words, CMSL have locked the snow gates to prevent people living within Highland Region from exercising their access rights. CMSL may have the right to close what remains of the lift system at Cairn Gorm to protect its staff,  but it has no legal right to stop other people from enjoying the mountain for other forms of outdoor recreation. Unfortunately in Scotland there are almost no safeguards to prevent organisations abusing their power in this way and very few lawyers (its not their fault, they don’t get paid for defending rights) prepared to take up such cases.

While Nicola Sturgeon is now threatening to restrict people’s right to undertake outdoor recreation still further, that is not yet law. It would also, in my view, not be justifiable (there is a debate about this in relation to the road closure on the Cairn Gorm facebook page (see here). The science says the risk of Covid-19 transmission outdoors is very low and, while the current spread of the virus is dire, about the one thing people can still safely do is get out in the countryside.  The Scottish Government should be encouraging that for the physical and mental health of everyone. There was a reminder of the importance of that yesterday when it was revealed (see here) that Scotland’s self-harm and suicide rate has increased 19% since the start of Covid.

People out in the Campsies yesterday, 29th December, tobogganing. ,

This disastrous situation at Cairn Gorm has come about because CMSL maintains the ski road on behalf of Highland Council  and both organisations appear to have lost sight of their roles.  If Highland Council want to close the road to Coire Cas for reasons other than snow, it should do so through proper legal processes which can then be challenged by the public in the courts.

The wider issue is that Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise/CMSL are far too close, represented not just by Speyside Cllr Bill Lobban holding prominent roles in both, but in the way that senior executives move between the two organisations.

Private Eye, October. Highland Council subsequently denied anything was wrong in the Inverness Courier (see here)

The Board of Directors and Senior Management at CMSL should recall they have been almost totally funded by the public for two years now , having raised hardly a penny of income in that time.  CMSL’s latest accounts reveal that no less than 61 staff and Directors (what Directors are being paid is not stated) are being supported through the public purse:

It is this ongoing public subsidy (£9.76m – £14.57m committed by HIE in the next 5 years for running costs alone) that has enabled CMSL to close when the other ski areas have no choice but to remain open if they are to survive financially.  Even if CMSL, as a government run operation, has been instructed to close its lifts at this difficult time, they should still be working for the public.  More specifically that means they should still be working to enable anyone who lives in Highland Region, and wishes to do so, to drive up to the Coire Ciste and Coire Cas car parks, whether that is to go for a walk, a toboggan, a snow shoe outing, a ski tour or to go mountaineering.

10 Comments on “HIE and Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd – unaccountable and out of control

  1. Not sure I understand the problem. A pandemic is certainly an exceptional circumstance and I am pretty sure if closing the road was unlawful then it wouldn’t have been closed. The government are asking us to exercise caution in all that we do to stop the rise in covid cases, so in the great scheme of things having the road closed is something we can all put up with for a while. This blog seems to speak quite selfishly and fotgets the greater good. Not sure what your point actually is?

    1. Duncan, if you can point me to the legal authority CMSL has for closing the road I’d be most grateful. It is not, however, selfish to campaign against the stupidity of closing down the countryside. I stay in Glasgow, there are thousands of people being crammed into the parks when there are miles and miles of empty countryside out there. For anyone who is remotely concerned about the dozens of people in my photos of the Campsies, its not a quarter on Pollok Park. Both are the consequence of the five mile travel limit around Glasgow. People should be allowed out to enjoy the countryside for the day whatever other restrictions are put in place

    2. What’s selfish about concerning yourself with national mental health and the role access to the countryside plays in that? What’s selfish about being concerned about illegal road closures that are aimed at limiting or preventing that access? Or are you really a NIMBY concerned (with no evidence) that people from outside your area will somehow overload local services by falling ill whilst they’re outside? If there’s one thing the pandemic should have taught us all, it’s that only by working together, and considering everyone, that we can develop effective strategies.
      On the subject of HIE and HIC corruption, you have no comment. Is highlighting that also selfish? I can’t believe you feel that highlighting large amounts of OUR public money wasted on cronies and mis-management is something you feel should be kept quiet. Democracy only works if the truth is visible to all and our representatives are held to account – that, at least, is something we can learn from watching how the current Westminster government operates.

  2. Those Highlanders who live outside the ‘bubble’ of the inward looking Inverness catchment ,could surely rant on for hours when it comes to closing main routes to prevent casual spread of Covid-19 ( as amended ! ) from higher risk regions?Perhaps to gain a fresh perspective, a study of current NHS Highland emergency care and outpatient arrangements will advise ? These are wholly dependent on partially subsidised,-often lengthy- private car journeys to the multi discipline “HUB” that is within Raigmore hospital. Those fortunate enough,somehow, to be awarded appointments, may well travel for 6 or seven hours in one day simply to benefit from a hard won 15 minute slot at this metropolis of “care”. When due to inadequate funding by Highland council, for the now closed alternative venues, expectant mothers and partners are “sucked” in, and sent home hundreds of miles by this ill conceived process, (a system which will cause them to journey back and forth a multitude of times over their term,) Any risk to them -or anyone else -while spending a quiet day out on CairnGorm is relatively insignificant?

  3. The debate was had on this website in Spring. There is very little evidence of outdoor Covid spread. I’m not saying that people should be driving long distances but being able to move some distance out of urban areas is important in allowing people to space out. Cramming people into small urban parks for exercise will have the opposite effect of what the travel restrictions seek to achieve. I’m currently reading a book by Lucy Jones called Losing Eden. Its an arsenal of evidence on why outdoor spaces are so important to our physical and mental well being. On a more mundane note I wonder if the road beyond the snow gate will still be cleared anyway. If there is a lot of snow and some melt/freeze cycles moving it later could be interesting. I have seen some expensive snow moving gear wrecked trying to clear hard neve at the side of roads.

  4. It’s only a one hour walk from Glenmore to the ski centre so nothing stopping you from walking up, access rights don’t extend to vehicles
    Cheers for the laughs your writing is highly amusing in the same way listening to an old alcoholic in the pub.

    1. Gavin, I am delighted to be called an old alcoholic and pleased that you are so easily amused. The issue is that a public road has been closed unlawfully by people who are being paid by the public, and have been for two years, since CML went bust and are giving the public almost nothing back in return. People living on Speyside deserve better.

      1. Nick, you live in Glasgow, why are you so concerned? Those who live in Speyside still have access to Cairngorms with or without taking a car up that road. Are you therefore suggesting that the road be open so that those in Glasgow, like yourself, can drive up to park in the car park to access Cairngorm mountain? If so, I imagine that there are good reasons for this being prevented – where do you plan on staying? will this put extra pressure on mountain rescue? will it become overrun and if so will this not have a bigger impact on locals during a pandemic than a road leading to a dead end being closed? what other services would more people require – car break downs, car accidents, food, fuel, toilets, waste facilities – things that require staff and therefore people at work when people are encouraged to stay at home. We all seen what happened to our countryside last year when it was opened up again. As someone who had to pick up after people’s mess, I’d rather not be doing that until

        1. Everyone should be concerned when public authorities take action beyond their powers and at the time I wrote this we were in the height of the pandemic and my concern was for locals. Clearly the closure of the road has made it much harder to local people to go into the hills. The hypocrisy of HIE is well illustrated by the fact that they have allowed staff at Cairngorm Mountain to use vehicles to drive to the top of Cairngorm for the view (I have the FB clips of staff reporting this). Are you concerned about that misuse of power and public money?

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