Following my post on the riparian planting in Balquhidder (see here) this photo, taken within ten minutes walk of Inverlochlarig car park, illustrates two key things that are wrong with Scottish forestry practices. It happens to be in Balquhidder and on the Blaircreich Forest Estate, run by the Economic Forestry Group, but in truth could…
Author: Nick Kempe
Landslips, flooding and riverside tree planting in Balquhidder – tackling the source of the problems
On Sunday I went for a walk in Balquhidder, which I had not visited since a beautiful day just before lockdown in 2020 when people were being advised to stay at home. On that day we came across just one person but we did see from close up the multiple land slips on both sides…
Gordon Watson, the Chief Executive of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), made a number of claims in the Herald on Wednesday about what they were doing to tackle climate change and the “decline” in nature (“collapse is the more appropriate word) following the rather belated commitments they made at the COP…
This post takes a further look (see here) at the proposal to sell off the Luss Visitor centre which the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) Board Members will be asked to approve today. (The proposal is due to be discussed between 9.30 and 11 and the discussion can be viewed live –…
Following my post about the Pitmain Estate’s proposed telecommunications mast on the Corbett, Carn an Fhreiceadain (see here) I contacted the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) about the application and took the opportunity to ask what was happening with the proposal to create new roads linking the estate to Glen Banchor (see here). At the…
Since the petition launched by Green MSP Ross Greer in July, there had been relatively little publicity about Flamingo Land’s revised planning application at Balloch until recently. The full page article by Kevin McKenna in the Herald on 10th September (see here) which covered a number of key issues was, therefore, most welcome. Then, this…
At the end of my post about multi-millionaire David Moulsdale’s purchase of McGregor’s Landing in July (see here), I included an update on the new driveway to Ben Cruach Lodge that he had unlawfully created off the A82. Having initially taken enforcement action as a result of public pressure, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National…
[Post updated 22nd September].After the planning application to build a telecommunications mast on Carn an Fhreiceadain in the Monadhliath Wild Land Area was withdrawn for the second time, following a significant number of objections, I commented (see here) that it was impossible to know if Savills or the Pitmain Estate would come back again. Six…
Last week news emerged (see here) that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) was proposing to sell off its former visitor centre in Luss. A paper was to be considered by the Board Meeting scheduled for today (see here) but, due to the death of the Queen, that meeting has been postponed…
Just four months after Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) bought back the lease for an undisclosed sum from the Camping and Caravanning Club (see here), the Strathy has revealed in an excellent article that this arm of the Scottish Government has not even shortlisted the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust (the AGCT) to operate the…
It was scorchingly hot when I started out on the Haute Route across the Pyrenees (see here) but it took me time to appreciate the impact this was having on the vegetation in the mountains. Almost all the flowers had gone, whether the land was grazed or not. Having not been to the Basque country before,…
I am back from six weeks in Europe, the first four walking and running the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean by the Haute Raute (HRP), followed by a section of the GR5 from Les Houches below Chamonix to Modane. I had half-intended to keep parkswatch going with some posts while away but my…
Although I have been over and around Beinn a’ Bhuird several times I had never walked up the line of the infamous road which, in the last century, became a cause celebre among wild land campaigners. Adam Watson was at the forefront of recording and raising awareness of how wild land was being eroded by…
I am starting the Pyrenean High Level Route today, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, and then hope to go on to the Alps so I won’t be blogging about Scotland’s National Parks for six weeks or so. I may send some postcards from abroad, as there are always things to learn from elsewhere, but…
TVForest and Land Scotland (FLS) have recently submitted a prior notification to Highland Council that they intend to restore an area of peatbog at Cairn Gorm below and west of the Coire Cas car park (see here). Most of the area is on land FLS own but two hectares are on the Cairn Gorm estate…
Following my last post on the impact of the river hydro schemes in Glen Etive (see here), I have been sent photos of the work taking place to construct the Allt Chaorainn, the first scheme you encounter when coming down the glen, together with some commentary (in italics to distinguish it from my own). “I…
A couple of days after going to look at the botched Beauly Denny construction road restoration (see here) while walking north of Carrbridge, I came across a more recent example of SSE’s work to upgrade Scotland’s network of powerlines. Another landscape horror. In 2018, while visiting the Auchtertipper native woodland creation scheme on the Reforesting…
I really value the comments readers make on parkswatch posts and this week there has been an interesting debate on sheep. The first reader, rightly pointed out that it is not just deer but also sheep that prevent woodland regenerating naturally. The second comment, from Tom Colville, is worth quoting in full: “The reason we…
In October 2020 I covered some of the sorry history of McGregor’s Landing at Ardlui (see here). A failed commercial enterprise it was then leased by West Dumbartonshire Council as an outdoor centre until 2015 since when it has lain vacant. Ten months later, in August 2021, a company called Ardlui SPV Ltd, which had…
I am not a good enough botanist to tell whether this is a Sitka or Norwegian spruce but it tells a tale. I spotted it during a stravaig round the Mar Lodge estate in what is still, despite global warming, a very challenging environment for trees. While the sapling had been browsed – two nibbled…
Following the local member elections on Thursday, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) issued a news release with some brief biographical details about the successful candidates (see here). You can read the full results here. The LLTNPA news release announced that turnout was 31% across the National Park but did not…
As the UK Government and possibly the British state continues to unravel, today is local member election day for the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA). Back in May, when I wrote a series of blogs on democracy in the National Park (see here, here and here), I had hoped the parkswatch could play…
Last month it was reported that Brewdog had been awarded over £1m in grants by Scottish Forestry Scotland as part of its Lost Forest project at Kinrara. The Scottish Forestry website is very hard to use – searches for Brewdog, Kinrara and on its land based database all come up blank – and I have…
Just two months after Forestry England (FE) and Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) bought back the Camping in The Forest (CiCF) business from the Camping and Caravanning Club (see here), all 16 campsites are all being outsourced again. FLS is currently advertising 15 year leases, through a company called CDLH, for Cobleland in the Trossachs,…
This map shows the extent of Flamingo Land’s proposed development at Balloch, now being marketed as Lomond Banks. The area outlined in red shows the area included in the current application for planning permission in principle, that in blue other land “within the control of the applicant” which includes a large part of Drumkinnon Woods. …