Following my post which highlighted how Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE) and Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL) were restricting access to the campervan park at Coire na Ciste to three time slots a day (see here), I am pleased to report that HIE/CMSL appear to have changed tack. According to the CMSL website (above) it appears that as long as campervanners pre-book, they can now gain access to the Ciste campervan parking area at any time up until 11pm each day.
Parkswatch can also report that there has been something of a clear-up and the apparently abandoned wooden railings which featured in my last post (see above) have now been removed
Unfortunately, this about turn has received very little publicity. The last news release on the CMSL website was dated 9th September and was advertising for an “inspirational” Chief Executive to “grow the business sustainably”. Parkwatch rather hopes that the reader who drew attention to the locked gates and who continued to press HIE after my last post drives her campervan into the ring!
On 6th October I was copied into an email from outgoing Chief Executive, Susan Smith, to that reader which stated:
“Please be assured that we will be reviewing all feedback received following this initial trial period of the facility and plan to implement any changes for the site reopening next season”.
Four days later the booking system has been changed – public pressure sometimes works!
What HIE doesn’t appear to have appreciated yet is how information circulates around the campervanning world and unless they publicise the changes, they are unlikely to see increased bookings before the park closes for the “season” in two weeks time. Reducing the fees further – £5 is generally regarded as a fair charge for waste disposal – might help.
Meantime, I am very grateful to George Paton who has shared with me CMSL’s response to a freedom of information request asking for a breakdown of the costs incurred in creating the campervan park:
This shows that the creation of the chemical waste facility – much needed – incurred by far the largest expense. Apart from CMSL staff time, the cost of which is not shown, other costs are minimal and demostrate that it should not be difficult to create basic aires for campervans, without chemical waste disposal points, across the Highlands. That would assist in managing visitor pressures in every local community. Where Government and HIE clearly require to take a lead is in paying for a strategic network of chemical disposal points. £2,400,000, a fraction of the cost of repairing the funicular, would pay for the installation of 40 across the Highlands. Let’s hope that, whatever CMSL does, HIE really do learn from their experience of trying to create a campervan facility at Coire na Ciste for next year.
Great to learn that they have actually changed tack and implemented recommendations. Strange that they haven’t heralded this more, especially with October school holidays. What is the mindset I wonder, if an organisation who deems changes good enough to make but doesn’t let anyone know!
I presume that figure is for a full underground installation, possibly considering the site involving rock excavation and as such should probably be taken as a maximum cost.
Where full mains drainage is available the cost should be very much less. It may in some circumstances be necessary to restrict the facility to users of “green” chemicals only as a number of sites already do. I use the “green” stuff for this reason and it seems to work just as well as the traditional “blue” so there is np reason not to use it.
As I have said before it should be simple to develop a prefabricated free standing unit probably based on plastic bunded fuel tanks which are readily available. Temporary sites often just provide an empty IBC which works perfectly well at minimal cost.