Cover-up, incompetence, negligence or all three?
At the end of my post in May (see here) I stated that the Scottish Government appeared at last to be realising that the business case presented by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for the repairs to the funicular railway was not as comprehensive as it should have been. Since then I and others have been raising concerns with the Scottish Government and drafted a report into the place of the funicular with respect to snowsports (it’s been a disaster) and the wider economy. This post highlights three of the issues we have raised: .
(1) Ground conditions
As I have already mentioned, before the original funicular construction there was no adequate geo-technical survey carried out, probably due to the urgency to get the project started, and, the same failing happened again when COWI carried out their report into the repairs! To give them credit COWI did carry out a “limited survey”, although this was at their instigation not HIE’s. Look at the following pictures and you will see why water is such a big problem on Cairn Gorm!
The pictures are of the beginner area approved by the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) planning committee in September 2020 and constructed thereafter. The first shows water flowing down the slope surface with the second showing the new drainage pipes which replaced the natural drainage channels that used to exist. Note how there is only a trickle of water out of one of the pipes (on the left) when the ground above was saturated.
The Ecological Clerk of Works reports on the funicular repairs constantly mention water flow (see here for example) the problem is CMSL don’t know where it goes!.
(2) Obsessed with the funicular
When presenting the Business Case for the future of Cairn Gorm as a ski resort to the 2021 AGM of the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust, Mr D Macleod of HIE confirmed that one option not given any consideration was for a chair/ gondola hybrid despite a partial quote being obtained from Doppelmayr (see here) and this being submitted to the last master planning exercise. Why not you may ask? The obvious answer is that HIE were only ever going to consider and promote repairs to the funicular.
(3) The importance of snowsports to the local economy
With all due respect to Sir Edward Mountain (see here) , while his continued demands for a full and thorough investigation into the ski resort fiasco is correct, I have to disagree with his underlying belief that the funicular underpins the Aviemore and wider Strathspey economy. Snowsports are what supports the winter economy in the area and the funicular has been terrible for that: for example in 2012 CML had 50.5% of the skier days market in Scotland, dropping to 23.6% in 2018, before the funicular was removed from service! Snowsports customers have long been voting with their feet on the operations at Cairn Gorm and that is primarily due to the funicular and removal of other uplift. And it is the contribution that the Cairngorm Mountain business makes to winter tourism that matters as summer numbers are booming without any funicular.
What needs to happen
A few weeks ago this appeared on social media:-
A funicular railway was and will never be a success on Cairn Gorm.
The Scottish Government should now ask HIE to close the business Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd in its current form, removing HIE as operator of the facilities at Cairn Gorm, with HIE picking up the cost of any staff redundancies etc. They should also ask HIE to cease all work on thefFunicular and other associated projects, some of which have recently been approved by the CNPA planners, before more millions are wasted.
The Scottish Government should then transfer ownership of the Cairngorm estate to Forest and Land Scotland and ask them to engage the Aviemore & Glenmore Community Trust about them operating what remains of the business – except the funicular which should remain the responsibility of HIE – on behalf of the community, if that is still their desire, and the snowsports enthusiasts who have supported Cairngorm Mountain.
This will allow the AGCT to start a new operation with a clean slate. Unless they are able to attract external investment, the business should re-start a minimum of uplift and staff to keep overheads as low as possible. I would suggest the Fiacaill ridge, Cas and M1 tows as the only uplift necessary with the base station open for refreshments and the Ptarmigan only for its public convenience. The other tows should be kept maintained on the off chance that one winter has a major snowfall and skier numbers justify their use on a limited basis. Paying huge salaries to staff and ridiculous directors fees will almost certainly guarantee failure again. This operation needs to run on a shoe string until it becomes established again
The role of HIE/ CMSL and some of its current and former employees involved in this fiasco should also be thoroughly investigated.
Is there any word on whether it will even open for this winter as planned? I’ve not seen an update from them for a long time which doesn’t look good. If things were going to schedule, you’d think they’d be hyping up the re-open.
Four seasons lost with the potental of a fifth and then? Looking at some of the videos that have appeared on Youtube there is more work going on than was planned. As HIE are continuing their secrecy, i.e. cover-up, as to what repairs are ongoing, how long they are expected to last etc., it would therefore only be guesswork as to a re-opening date. Then there is also the question of whether or not the Department of Transport will approve the work. Too many unknowns. The fact remains that snowsports enthusiasts were deserting the mountain in their thousands because of their dislike of the funicular. That is not going to change.
£millions will continue to be wasted every year on Cairn Gorm while HIE remains in charge. No government is going to continue supporting this level of public expenditure, costed by HIE as around £2million per annum for the next 30 years. The funicular is bound to be closed and removed from the mountain during this period, along with the associated risk that all other forms of snowsports uplift are also removed. This public expenditure on one mountain slope is depriving communities throughout Badenoch and Strathspey, and across the rest of the Highlands and Islands, of essential public funding. This is all because of the absurd adventure that HIE and their predecessor body, Highlands and Islands Development Board, have been having in the Cairngorms since they wrenched ownership of the upper slopes of Cairn Gorm from the Forestry Commission in 1971. It should be an absolute top priority for the Scottish government to remove this land from HIE control and return it to the state forestry service, now Forestry and Land Scotland.
In 2006, when the last attempt was made to effect this land transfer, Forestry Commission Scotland produced an excellent consultation document which explained how they would manage the land under their ownership. It included proposals to set up an “Advisory Forum”, consisting of up to 20 persons to represent business, local community and outdoor recreation interests, including snowsports, both local and national. The aim of this Forum was to produce advice on “strategic decisions regarding future management of the former HIE estate”. HIE thwarted this land transfer by providing FCS with inadequate financial information. The Scottish Government now needs to instruct FLS to proceed immediately to the setting up of the proposed Advisory Forum, under FLS chairmanship, over HIE land. In addition, the Scottish Government needs to instruct HIE to fully cooperate with this process. A failure to cooperate should lead to the immediate removed for the HIE chairman from his post. Setting up the Forum should be the prelude to the process of removing HIE from the land, but with HIE retaining full control of the funicular for the future, including total financial responsibility.
A first task for the Advisory Forum should include discussion about the best options for future uplift on the mountain independent of the funicular. This must involve the provision of new uplift facilities which can guarantee uplift, in summer and winter, whether the funicular is working, is mothballed or is removed from the mountain.
New uplift should include the potential replacement of the Day Lodge Poma with a chairlift giving access to 2,700ft. In addition to some existing lifts (Fiacaill Ridge Poma, Coire Cas T-Bar and M1 Poma) elsewhere in Coire Cas, a Day Lodge Chairlift might provide the best short term action to provide a new access facility to the upper slopes, for all abilities. In winter such a chairlift would link into the existing West Wall Poma in Coire na Ciste to transport snowsport users up to the Ptarmigan restaurant level, while the chairlift would provide mountain bike uplift, summer and winter. This uplift could be combined with new trails, for walking and mountain biking, descending Coire Cas and Coire na Ciste and then linking into the trail network in the forest zone below. A Day Lodge Chairlift would also be attractive to visitors who just wanted to ride a chairlift and enjoy the views without disappearing into the mist, cloud and high winds for one third of the year, as the previous Coire Cas chairlift and funicular did.
And that hits the nail on the head – HIE just seem to be completely ignoring the huge elephant in the room, and that is the impact on local businesses. I wonder how many accommodation/retail/rental businesses in and around Aviemore have invested this last year thinking the funicular will re-open and by some miracle people start coming back to Cairngorm Mountain and they can recoup their investment. But with the secrecy and silence, how can any local business, particularly those reliant on tourism, make any decision on the future of their own business without any information on the future of the resort.
I’m sure I’d read either on Parkwatch, or elsewhere that once the building work is complete the Funicular drive mechanism and control systems need to be replaced as they are at their end of life, before it can operate for the public again. I can’t see this being a quick job, so even if the construction work finishes soon it sounds like it’s a long way off re-opening.
You would hope the repair work would give it a full lifespan now, rather than premature deterioration, but who knows.
It’ll be very interesting to see how they justify the increased costs of repair vs removing it. If it remember correctly, there wasn’t a huge difference in the cost of repair vs removal when the project was initially agreed, but I think everyone knew the repair cost would always increase significantly.
I think the idea of a chairlift to the Shieling level is good, but not one to the top as it will be too affected by the wind.
The replacement of some type of tow where white lady tbar was would be good and also replacing the M1 with a new more user friendly one.
The funicular is required to service the ptarmigan for skiers and non skiers, both winter and summer.
The real focus needed to be on developing the summer business into a better proposition – check out Nevis Range and Glencoe ?!
Glenshee are now starting to increase their offering too which I am sure will help them financially through the summer.
Sight seeing, guided walks, dinner at the top, mountain biking need to be seriously looked at to boost income and increase the offering.
Looking at providing a proper campsite for glamping, camper van hookups, and tent pitches. The proper provision of toilets, showers, etc would again improve the offering and make a stay much more appealing
It all costs money to do this but a working group could easily be set up with proper project management and making sure that the budget is adhered to.
Only thoughts
Dave Morris. 3rd Sentence-My major concern is that if the funicular fails again in 3.5 – 5 years, which are predictions from two PW readers, the S.G may pull the plug altogether and instruct HIE to remove the lot. That would be a tremendous loss to UK snowsports, but now that the S.G. has considered that option it is a distinct possibility, UNLESS the minister in charge can be provided with a better option. Hopefully that is already in the pipeline. 4th Sentence-It is quite shocking that HIE can be spending so much taxpayers money on their failed business to the detriment of every other business in the HIE area. Unfortunately these businesses are to controlled/ frightened to say anything against HIE to get this changed, it’s called “Corporate Bullying”. It’s not only the land that needs removing from HIE control but the business CMSL as well.
At this stage the priority for the minister will be to examine whether it is worth carrying on with the repair job. It must now be obvious that removing the funicular would have been far cheaper than repairing it. I agree with the fear that the Scottish Government may get so fed up of the whole financial mess on Cairn Gorm, all caused by HIE, that they will order the funicular plus all other uplift to be stripped from the mountain. We must therefore argue the case for the essential winter use and the need for both snowsports and mountain bike uplift, in winter (snowsports) and winter plus summer for mountain biking, especially for those years with poor snow cover. That is why the minister needs to understand that the first priority is to decide if the repair work should continue; the second is to set up the Advisory Forum, as recommended by Forestry Commission Scotland in 2006; the third priority is to agree that the three existing tows which together provide snowsport access to the upper slopes (Fiacaill Ridge Poma, Coire Cas T-Bar and M1 Poma) are properly maintained, managed and repaired, as necessary, with the fourth priority being to decide where best to locate a new chairlift to cater for snowsports, mountain biking and pedestrian access, as well as access by the less able, via wheelchair, sit ski or snow bike. My view, as indicated above, is to meet these needs by replacing the Day Lodge Poma with a modern high speed chairlift, with protection from rain and snow and compliant with disability legislation.
Typical debacle from our public bodies. Funiculars are nothing new so how on earth was not constructed properly in the first place. Who was overseeing it all in the first place?
This farce has to come to an end, After the article in the Herald on 01/05/2022 I emailled Kate Forbes, S.G.finance minister, Muriel Cockburn, local Aviemore councillor, and Mr Ivan McKee S.G. minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise. On 05/07/2022 myself and five others presented a report to Mr McKee at the S.G. offices in Glasgow detailling problems with the funicular from the decline in use by snowsports enthusiasts, how concerns have been raised about the safety/ longevity of the repaired viaduct to its supposed impact on the tourism trade in Strathspey, not the full list but it gives you an idea. You can find most of what was discussed by reading previous PW posts. The overall push was as outlined in the final four paragraphs in this post. Obviously Mr McKee could not just take our report as gospel but is arranging to discuss it with HIE! We told him that was to be expected and also HIE to rubbish the report but if he wishes we will prepare a more comprehensive report to back up our arguments. A meeting is now being arranged with tourist businesses and other interested parties in Strathspey which will hopefully allow the S.G. to formulate a sensible plan for the future of the Cairn Gorm ski area with the removal of HIE as estate and business owner asap.