On 9th May Highland Council issued a decision on the proposals submitted on behalf of ABDN to upgrade the track to Far Ralia and construct an alternative to the Wade Bridge (see here). The way the proposals have been dealt with and the decision itself raise serious questions about how the planning system in the…
Month: May 2023
In January 2022, Highland Council granted prior approval to a new “forestry” road at Balavil for which there was no justification or need. At the same time I was made aware of large borrow pit which had not appeared on any of the plans and reported this to the Cairngorms National Park Authority (see here). …
On Thursday there was a debate in the Westminster Parliament about public access to nature brought by the Green MP, Caroline Lucas, and supported by the House of Common Business Committee. For anyone interested in access rights the Hansard report is well worth reading (see here). The debate started with Caroline Lucas making a powerful…
[This post has been updated to clarify the difference between the River Spey SAC and River Spey SSSI] While not nearly as bad as it was (see here), the consequences of the engineering works in the Allt Mhor/River Gynack continue to flow down in the River Spey river system. Silt has now been washed down…
Six years ago, on 1st April 2017, Gordon Watson, the Chief Executive Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), closed the slipway and tried to close the ranger base at Milarrochy without consultation and without any consideration by his board . When the Loch Lomond Association wrote to James Stuart, the Convener of the…
Following my post (see here) on how sheep and cattle were still grazing the slopes of Beinn Luibhean, despite the landslips, Andy Wightman sent me information about the ownership of the land from his website Who Owns Scotland (see here): This information, obtained from the Register of Sasines, is not yet online at the Registers…
On Friday silt was washing down the Allt Mhor/River Gynack into the River Spey Special Area of Conservation from the work to repair to the Pitmain Estate flood alleviation channel. I have been informed that this is not the first time this has happened recently. On 28th April (see here) I commented on how much…
If you have not seen it and care about either conservation or outdoor recreation you should watch this video which was added to the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project facebook page on 11th April (see here). In it, two birders who had come from England to view capercaillie, confess the error of their ways after being spoken…
My post on the financial crisis at the Cononish goldmine last week (see here) prompted some very interesting comments and a number of photos which have been published on twitter (see here for photos, videos and commentary). These suggest that environmental conditions are, as I feared, being breached. Tailing disposal Under the approved waste…
My apologies. In my post last week on how the Cairngorms National Park Planning Committee had rejected the application for a new road linking Pitmain with Glen Banchor (see here) I had used this photo of the Allt Chaorainn bridge from the Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group. I had then wrongly added the black line…
I was pleased to be quoted in an article in the National on Saturday (see here) about how the Scottish Parliament still drafts legislation designed to exclude the Royal Family and Crown Estate. Twenty 20 years ago outdoor recreational interests successfully fought to close a loophole which would have meant access rights did not apply…
Last Friday the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) Board rejected the planning application to construct a new road round Newtonmore that would have connected the Pitmain and Glen Banchor estates (see here). The video of the meeting is still on the internet, which is contrary to the usual practice of the CNPA but is a…
Following my post on 3rd April about the financial crisis at the Cononish goldmine and its possible environmental consequences (see here) there have been a number of developments. Scotgold’s finances In their interim results (see here) for the half year till December 2022, published on 30th March, the Directors of SGZ Cononish, Scotgold’s subsidiary…
My post on The bus service and parking capacity at Cairn Gorm (published on Saturday 22 April 2023) received a number of comments on parkswatch and on the Save the Ciste facebook page. Parkswatch is indebted to those who took the time to point out the difficulties and costs associated with the provision of a…