Unless tree shelter manufacture has been revolutionised recently it looks remarkably like the Chief Executive of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) was celebrating the erection of hundreds of plastic tree tubes along the River Larig in Balquhidder last week. Incredibly his tweet – fake news about conservation – got 49 likes…
Month: March 2022
Ten days ago I went to have a look at the (larger) part of the Ralia estate that has been bought by Standard Life but first had to pass through the part of the prorperty that borders the A9 and has been retained by the previous owners. I had been there several times in the…
The shambolic organisation of Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) Board meetings was again (see here) evident last Monday. While it right that the LLTNPA has decided to continue broadcasting its meetings live following the end of lockdown, unfortunately the quality of the sound at this meeting was even worse than the quality…
After Storm Arwen, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) issued a news release in December titled “A shot across the boughs” (see here) in which it stated that “we will be dealing with the impact of November’s storm for months, and even years, to come, it is a timely reminder that we are right to pursue…
On Sunday I was on Speyside, had 40 minutes to spare and decided to go for a run from the outflow of Loch Morlich to have a look at the work that is being done in the McAlpine plantation by Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) as part of Cairngorms Connect: Not far along the track…
This post considers Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL)’s second planning application at Cairn Gorm, to create new mountain bike trails in lower Coire Cas. The application (see here for planning papers), as I will explain, is as poorly documented and thought through as the first, which was to create two new roads on the mountain…
On 25th February Forestry and Land Scotland and Forestry England issued a joint news release (see here) announcing that they had acquired the Camping and Caravanning Club (CCC)’s majority stake in Camping in the Forest (CITF) which manages three campsites in prime locations in Scotland’s National Parks: at Glenmore in the Cairngorms; Cashel on Loch…
“Monachyle Wood”, at the west end of Loch Voil in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, is being marketed by John Clegg, part of Strutt and Parker, at offers over £6,250,000 for 621 hectares (see here). The history of this plantation provides a good example of public sector financial mismanagement in favour of private…
Paying for a full page advert in the Herald may not be the best use of public money but by lending its name to this the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) is campaigning for a change that would benefit the natural environment. That is a very welcome change in approach – even…
The planning application for the Carn an Fhreiceadain radio mast Following my post in October on the proposal by the Pitmain Estate to erect a 6m high radio mast on the summit of Carn an Fhreiceadain, just outside the Cairngorms National Park boundary (see here), a number of people and organisations (including North East Mountain…
I had not intended to leave it two months before featuring another of Adam Watson’s photos (see here). He took this photo of the upper part of Coire Cas shortly before the Lurcher’s Gully Public Inquiry in 1981 at which he presented scientific evidence about the impact of ski developments at Cairn Gorm. Ten…