This extract appeared in a generally informative article about growing interest from the private sector about buying Scottish Estates for their environmental potential. That raises lots of interesting questions, not least whether Agencies like Savill’s who were quoted in the piece, are now are being motivated by the potential to make a quick buck out…
Author: Nick Kempe
Forest Drive has miraculously re-opened after my post last week (see here) which revealed that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority had only opened 192 out of the 300 plus camping places it had promised to Scottish Ministers for the start of the camping byelaw season. In permit area Q, for example (see…
Just 14 months after Cairngorm Mountain went bust, the company that operated it and got away scot free has gone into administration. That should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Natural Retreats saga in the Highlands. This post takes a look at the latest financial losses attributable to Highland and Islands…
On Monday afternoon news emerged that Blairvadach had been saved – for another year – as a result of the deal the Scottish Government did with the Greens last week to get support for their budget. This deal involved more money being allocated to local authorities and, with that cash in hand, the SNP administration…
Recently, Forest and Land Scotland have been flailing trees on Forest Drive in the Trossachs. Flailing is much cheaper than cutting trees manually but is a very destructive practice. It might be acceptable for clearing scrub from roadside verges, but little else. Its impact on hedges, for example, is disastrous, destroying their structure and ecological…
Yesterday saw the start of the new camping byelaw “season” in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. The LLTNPA has kept very quiet about this, there is no news release, but they were taking bookings for 1st March (see here) so they are operating the byelaws again. As I pointed out in December (see…
Until reading the Report of the Deer Working Group (DWG) to the Scottish Government (see here) and (here), I had not realised that the Scottish Government was dishing out public money to landowners to undertake muirburn for red deer. The payments appear to have been introduced by the Scottish Government in 2015 and then, in…
There has been extensive press coverage of the proposed closure of Blairvadach (see here for Evening Times) and I was pleased to be quoted in the Sunday National at the weekend. Congratulations to the journalist concerned, Karin Goodwin, for finding professionals within the Outdoor Education sector who have been prepared to speak out publicly against…
Blairvadach (see here), Glasgow City Council’s last outdoor centre, is threatened with closure (see here) as a result of cuts agreed by the SNP run Council, which ultimately result from budget allocations made by the Scottish Government . Located 1km north of Rhu on the Gare Loch, just outwith the National Park boundary, for many…
The latest plans to develop the shores of Loch Lomond were made known to the wider public at the weekend (see here – includes photomontage). Tom Hunter wants to develop a £10m “global leadership centre”, named after him, at Ross Priory on the South West corner of Loch Lomond. Ross Priory is run…
My apologies for accidentally omitting the final three paras from Dave Morris’ post on Balmoral and the recommendations of the Deer Working Group.They have been added to the post and posted for convenience below. In the section of the Deer Working Report that addresses the impact of deer on the Natural Heritage there is an…
The Adventure Syndicate recently produced an excellent video on girls’ and young women’s participation in outdoor activities called “Should” (see here). It should be required viewing for every member of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board and their ranger service. Action 10 of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s draft…
I am taking a bit of a break from campaigning on National Parks in order to finish writing a book I completed a draft four years ago but, since setting up parkswatchscotland, have hardly progressed that further. At New Year I realised that to do so I would need to devote a lot less…
On 16th December, just before the “dead” holiday period the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park launched a six week consultation on a new Outdoor Recreation Plan (ORP). The consultation closes at 5pm today (see here to respond). Mary Jack, earlier this month, considered the discussion at the Board Meeting prior to the consultation launch,…
The two fine letters speak for themselves. Sadly, there is now widespread misunderstanding about the law on access across Scotland: Camping is one of the activities covered by access rights but but those rights specifically exclude motor vehicles. This slide, appended to the consultation document issued by the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust on Freedom…
Not a week goes seems to go by without some group of business interests claiming they are paying too much tax. Ten days ago the operators of small scale hydro schemes, many of which are quite large, were back at it (see here for example). Not content with the enormous subsidies that they have received…
I was pleased to get this letter into the Badenoch and Strathspey Herald on Thursday in response to their excellent coverage the week before about the potential for camping byelaws to be introduced into the Cairngorms National Park Authority. While it was good to see Grant Moir, the CNPA Chief Executive (above) deny there…
[Postscript – Good News! An hour or so after this was published the CNPA Planning Committee rejected this Planning Application by two votes! Well done them and what a contrast to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority where Board Members rubber stamp whatever is recommended by officers. What the CNPA now needs to…
Preparatory work for the seven hydro schemes which Highland Council approved with conditions last March has now started. There are two separate pieces of work, one to upgrade the powerline in the glen, the other to upgrade the road so that construction traffic can use it without blocking visitors from the glen. Meantime the revised…
Three years AFTER the introduction of the camping byelaws, its been revealed that there is a “growing problem of litter and waste in the National Park”. Remember all those photos of abandoned tents left by campers who were blamed for the litter problems in the National Park and which were used to justify the introduction…
Residents of Portincaple have produced an excellent short video (see here) for their campaign launch on Monday explaining the development which threatens their local community and why they are opposed to it. The Hovering Scotsman has also supported them by providing another video showing the wonderful landscape of Loch Long along with the aims of…
It seems that the Cairngorms National Park Authority Enforcement Notice against the Glen Clova hotel hill road (see here) has had some effect because at the end of November the Estate notified Angus Council of their intention to construct a new forestry road (see here for planning papers). Not only that, but the Prior Notification papers…
After the criticisms in my last post of the lack of transparency in the planning system, its nice to report that in other areas the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority is showing signs of improvement. The LLTNPA’s recent publication of Deer Management Plans for the area is particularly welcome. The impact of deer…
When I first came across the destruction caused by the Bruar hydro scheme (see here) in August 2016 I tried to find out what had gone wrong by looking at the documents associated with the planning application on the Cairngorms National Park Planning Portal. There was not a single document on the planning portal…
I was sent this photo from David Lintern, the fine outdoor writer and photographer (see here), last night and it prompted further thoughts about the Climate Emergency and the connections between what happening on opposite sides of the world in Scotland and Australia (see here for most recent post on lessons from the Australian crisis)….