I have visited the Vanoise National Park, several times over the years, including last summer during the drought that brought Autumn early to the mountains (see here). I was back there last week at the end of a skiing holiday which finished early due to illness and bad weather. Skiing back down into Pralognan from…
Author: Nick Kempe
I had hoped to cover the members debate that took place in the Scottish Parliament on 12th March about Flamingo Land’s revised development proposals for Balloch on my way to the Alps two weeks ago, but doing that on the phone proved beyond me. It followed a previous members debate, also sponsored by local list…
Last summer the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National ParK Authority (LLTNPA) advised those who had responded to its much delayed (see here) Outdoor Recreation Plan (ORP) tthat it had decideded to incorporate it into the next National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP) (see here). The draft NPPP is to be considered by the LLTNPA Board today, prior…
I have always been sceptical about Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE)’s funicular court cases going ahead because of what further it might reveal about their incompetence. But those court cases (see here) may be the price the Scottish Government has exacted for picking up the cost (c£26m?) of the funicular repairs There was an interesting…
On 1st February Gilkes Hydro announced proposals (see here) to create a new pumped storage hydro scheme on the Ardverikie Estate in a beautiful and unspoiled area: “At up to 900MW installed capacity and 33,000MWh stored energy, this will be the largest such project in the UK”. If constructed, the scheme would link Lochan…
I biked over to the River Dulnain two weeks ago not to search out unlawful access signs on the Dunachton Estate (see here) but to take a look at the forestry and a new native woodland scheme around An Suidhe. There is some lovely woodland surviving on the estate, even if none that I saw…
I was pleased to receive this photo and comment at the weekend from a parkswatch reader who has been following the funicular story for several years and has experience of health and safety on North Sea oil rigs. “I finally made it up the hill to the Cairngorm Ski Area. I think it would be…
On Wednesday NatureScot, formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, issued a news release (see here) about how they had entered a partnership with the Hampden & Co, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Palladium (the company that in in a partnership with National Parks across the UK called “Revere). They described this as: “a ‘national first’…
On 13th February a further 42 documents were added to the planning application which Flamingo Land first submitted in May last year (see here). A cover letter from Stantec (see here) explains the main changes to the application, including which documents have been superseded, and responds to the 16 points raised by Loch Lomond and…
[Update. Apology for the reference to Standard Life in the headline. SL merged with Aberdeen Asset Management and are know known as ABDN although their Investment and Property Income Trust kept the old name till last year]. I have been watching the Standard Life Investments and Property Income Trust (SLIPIT)’s plans for the part of…
When Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) announced in November they had awarded the lease for the Glenmore campsite to Twinflower (see here), they said nothing about the leases for the two campsites in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. These had been advertised through CDLH at the same time after FLS had bought back…
Following my most recent post on BrewDog’s Lost Forest (see here), I was sent some photos showing the impact of diggers on and around the Burma Rd which crosses from Strathspey over to the River Dulnain. The first clearly illustrates one aspect of the problem, some of the machines that have been used on the…
On Monday I went for a bike ride on the Dunachton Estate with Dave Morris, a friend and fellow access campaigner. We rode from near Kincraig over to the River Dulnain and came across a number of advisory access signs, some good some bad, but one in particular really caught our notice. A new moorland…
My last post (see here), on the facilities available for snowsports enthusiasts parking in Coire na Ciste, failed to highlight the deterioration in bus services to Cairn Gorm, as a couple of readers pointed out afterwards. I hope this post will help make up for that. The current situation In June 2021 Highlands and Islands…
The Scottish Government is currently advertising for six new board members for the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) (see here) and a new chair for Scottish Natural Heritage/Nature Scot (see here). Further changes in the composition of the CNPA Board are pending with Local Member elections due next month and with the Convener, Xander…
With the funicular re-opened, the natural advantage that Cairngorm Mountain has over Scotland’s other downhill snowsports areas due to its altitude has been very apparent this week. While the other resorts have no snow, the beginner slopes in the Ptarmigan bowl are stlll in good condition. Over 1000ft below, Cairngorm Mountain’s unnatural advantages over other…
In my first post on the revised Flamingo Land Application last September (see here) I referred to the submission Ian Cowan (an environmental and planning law consultant) had made on behalf of Ross Greer which contained a forensic analysis of some of the gaps and contradictions in the application including the proposals for parking. I…
Last week I had a bad week for various reasons. I not only misinterpreted some of the data about boating use on Loch Lomond (see here) but also a notification from the Cairngorms National Park Authority about the withdrawal of a track application close to Newtonmore. I mistakenly thought this applied to the revised track…
For the last few years the Herald has carried a full page feature about once a week on the climate emergency and nature crises. Every 4-6 weeks this involves NatureScot, the new brand name for what is legally still Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Sometimes these pieces are written by NatureScot – often under the name…
Not far above the start of the path up Beinn Dubh which I went up ten days ago (see see), there is a fine stand of oak trees, called Strone Wood. I have not researched its history but, like the other oak woods round Loch Lomond, it is likely to owe its existence to our…
Anne Weir was “quite shocked to see a rather large gate across the road and deer fencing stretching across the hill on either side” on a walk up Geal Charn Mhòr via the Burma Road and sent these photos to parkswatch along with a couple of comments. Anne noted that that there was still lots…
Last weekend I was out for a run over the hills on the north side of Glen Luss, which I had not visited since before Covid. They have become increasingly popular, and rightly so, with paths at various stages of development on the most frequented routes. In most places this is not a problem but…
In my second post on the byelaw review, issued yesterday morning (see here), I included data on boat registrations supplied by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) in response to a Freedom of Information request in June 2021. Having spent several hours checking the claims made about jet skis in the Review…
The recommendations in the Review of the Loch Lomond byelaws being considered by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) this afternoon (see here) have important implications and serious for people’s rights. The right of navigation on Loch Lomond As I have explained in my last two posts (see here) and (here), the LLTNPA’s attempt…
[NB Part of this post has been updated following the claim at the LLTNPA board meeting that the FOI response for 2022 only gave part year registrations and numbers increased considerably after that date] The single greatest flaw in the the Loch Lomond bye law consultation process, which I touched on in my last post…