After writing about my walk along the Radical Road on 1st April [belatedly published on Parkswatch two days ago – Ed] (see here), I was passed an update (see here) from Historic Environment Scotland (HES), an incredible piece of corporate-speak. I am sure HES believe what they say but this is only because they are democratically unaccountable and don’t permit any challenge.
- This update has not been publicised, it is not on HES’ website.
- It’s interesting that HES call it the Radical Road. For a long time HES have tried to downplay the significance of the Radical Road and talk about Holyrood Park as a whole, perhaps hoping the issue will get forgotten. (Talk about the Park as a whole, of course, only exposes more incompetence.)
- “our commitment to improve access to the Radical Road” is of course nonsense. It’s a form of words and a delaying tactic. Any serious commitment would not have got HES to where they are and would have had the “road” opened long ago.
- The ‘scaling works’ are idiotic/pointless and expensive. Rocks fall off cliffs. No amount of descaling will alter this natural process. No other similar organisation/sensible body/private owner is/would be doing this.
- “our dedicated teams have also been working hard to carry out essential activities to improve access to the Radical Road”. The reality is exactly the opposite! The evidence on the ground of ugly barricades and collapsing signage show indifference and neglect.
- A habitat survey sounds good but is entirely irrelevant. Of course it’s a wonderful habitat but this is no reason to deny everyone the right to roam.
- “we have designed and will be installing appropriate signage”. Really? The original sensible signage is already there, it just needs cleaning. The current, modern, signage is in a state of collapse and disarray.
- The use of drones or ‘unmanned aerial vehicles’ (UAV) may sound impressive to some but anyone who understands the issues knows has been it to be useless in assessing the state of the monuments that HES closed because of the consequences of closing the Radical Road. Visual information does not tell anyone what is loose or about to fall. Touch is the only way, as experienced on rocks by climbers. The closure and failure to reopen many monuments throughout Scotland is still affecting communities and businesses.
- There is a major difference of the impact of rockfalls on a pedestrian track and a vehicular highway by Samson’s Ribs.
- This note doesn’t mention how the risk of falling off the top of Salisbury Crags is infinitely greater than walking along the Radical Road underneath, or that there have never been any fatalities on Radical Road, unlike, say, the top of Arthur’s Seat itself.
- Nor does it mention the northern section; clearly this is something HES are unable to cope with, because of who HES are and how they operate. HES are the problem.
[Ben initially added this critique to his walk post but I thought it deserved a post in its own right. Ed]
Well said, Ben. I hope this excellent post may encourage those involved to revisit this situation. I used to walk part of the way home from school with a friend on summer days round the Radical Road and it was a formative experience of an exciting and thought provoking place within the city which should not be closed to the public as it is at present.
HES are indeed well into corporate-speak documents with no content. (authored by AI ?).
Another example is their daft management plan for The Heart of Neolithic Orkney, currently out for ‘consultation’:
https://haveyoursay.historicenvironment.scot/heritage/have-your-say-hono-management-plan/
You might think that a ‘plan’ would involving doing things, but in corporate land, it is focussed on avoiding any actual work in favour of an infinite cycle of self-appraisals. In 92 pages of guff and irrelevant photographs, the closest they get to actions are these:
“Digital Media Strategy: 3.2 3.3 3.4: Building on Messaging and Interpretation Strategy and enhancing web presence and offer online access to information, news, interpretation and events. Start date 2026, 10 year cycle with a 5 year review”
You would think that was just HES continuing to do their job, didn’t need to wait until 2026, and didn’t need to be guided by a Management Plan? The most specific and frequent of the action points is this:
“Team members/partners to attend conferences, workshops and meetings including WHUK, UK National Commission for UNESCO, Scottish WH Coordinators Forum and other opportunities as appropriate and if funding is available. Ongoing, at least twice a year” .
As highlighted in your previous post, the problem is that HES are not accountable to anyone.