Following David Jarman’s highly informative 2024 powerpoint comparing the impacts of the various pumped storage hydro (PSH) schemes being proposed for Scotland (see here), I have been to look at Coire Glas, the site of SSE’s proposed scheme above Loch Lochy, twice in the last eighteen months. The first time was on a walk up…
Month: October 2026
What has been the impact of the firebreaks in Glen More on the Caledonian pinewood? By 30th July, Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) had created 6km of firebreaks in Glenmore (see here) as part of their efforts to contain and extinguish the Glenmore wildfire. As they put it: “Immediate action was required and it was…
After the retrospective planning application for the unlawful new access track to Honeypot Farm had been withdrawn and the planning documents had disappeared from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) ‘s planning portal (see here) I submitted a Freedom of Information request to them on 7th October. Two weeks later, at the…
{NB this post has been updated on 25/10/26 to correct my mistaken assumption that the Woodland Trust bought the land from Locheil Estates] Background The areas of native pinewood around the east end and along the south shore of Loch Arkaig, taken together, form one the largest and most important remnants of the Caledonian forest…
Global warming caused by the release of CO2 into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels is all too real and with that climate change. However, climate change is not affecting all parts of the world in the same way, as was demonstrated this summer by the differences in temperature and weather experienced in Scotland compared…
The retrospective planning application for the unlawful new road to Honeypot Farm (see here), submitted in March, has been withdrawn by Michael Hyde Planning Associates, the agents on behalf of the owner of the farm, Sam Newall. Without a retrospective planning application there is no longer any justification for allow the new road to remain…
A reader sent me this photo of muirburn yesterday, taken from Tap O Noth, approximately 20 miles to the north. It was a windy day, with estimated gusts of up to 40mph. Wind and the muirburn code The old muirburn code refers to wind 13 times and contained important factual statements describing the impact of…
Last Friday, 2nd October, the area still covered by the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA)’s unlawful exclusion zone (see here) Abernethy and Glenmore was significantly reduced in size. The remaining ‘restricted’ areas on the RSPB’s Abernethy estate, which were significantly reduced in size just over three weeks ago (see here), have been removed with one…
The Duncan Mills slipway at Balloch, operated by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), is the last remaining public boat launching facility on Loch Lomond. This follows the decision by staff to close Milarrochy Bay in 2017 (see here). The LLTNPA’s website provides some limited information about the operation of the slipway…
In 2024 the Abrdn Property Income Trust (APIT)’s shareholders took the decision to wind down the fund. Following the disposal of their other fixed assets in 2024, APIT have been having difficulty (see here) selling the Far Ralia estate which they bought in September 2021 for carbon trading purposes and then planted with trees with the assistance…