“Our landscape is a national asset and we believe that it should be treated with care and respect so that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy it. We encourage the Highland Council to help protect the wild nature of the glen and reverse the decision to approve these three hydro schemes.” (Mountaineering Scotland see…
Author: Nick Kempe
Its the muirburn season (1st October to 15th April). Following my post on muirburn at Mar Lodge (see here), REVIVE has released film footage of muirburn in the Cairngorms National Park (see here). This was covered by the Ferret yesterday (see here). Parkswatch can add to the concerns about the impact of muirburn on the…
A lot has happened since my posts last month on the Glen Etive hydro schemes (see here) and (here). For almost the first time in Scotland hydro schemes are being subject to detailed scrutiny by locally elected members, informed by their knowledge and skills and the considerable public debate that has been taking place. This…
Most people travelling north over the Drumochter pass will have noticed the terrible scars across the hillside on the right after the summit. Many probably realise they are a consequence of the construction of the Beauly Denny powerline. Few will realise, unless they have read previous parkswatch posts, that this destruction has taken place in…
The papers for the next Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board meeting on Monday 18th March were published last week (see here). There are some good things in them, particularly the papers on “Wild Park” and a new Forest Strategy (see here), which I will consider further in due course. There are also…
This being the muirburn season – I spotted four examples in the Cairngorms National Park on my way up to Aviemore 12 days ago – it was very interesting to see how the Scottish media picked up on the fire damage caused by a dropped cigarette rather than all the fires deliberately started by landowners. …
Last year parkswatch covered Fergus Ewing’s intervention on behalf of the owner of the Carrbridge Hotel, Mr Watt, to create a new car park in an area outside the village settlement boundary where trees had been illegally felled (see here). This has been followed up by the environmental journalist, Rob Edwards, who published the…
After Friday’s post (see here) about the legal quagmire that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Authority has created for itself through the camping bye-laws, its good to be able to report on progress from the Park’s excellent Access Team. Strange as it may seem, my understanding is that the Access Team, like the Local…
[The original section of this post that dealt with the enforcement of byelaws against campervans contained faulty information, based on that originally supplied by the LLTNPA, and has been corrected (see here)]. The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s camping byelaws come back into effect today within the four camping management zones in the…
Here’s a prediction. There will be no rest and no thanks to the Scottish Government for as long as they allow the current mismanagement of the Rest and Be Thankful to continue and they fail to invest money in a long-term solution. That prediction and this post is prompted by the sheep spotted grazing on…
Its now almost a year since the Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham visited the head of Loch Long at the invitation of local MSP Jackie Baillie and local residents (see here) to see the litter problem. The local community has been organising clear-ups for years but the sheer volume of rubbish swept up by the sea was…
The revised Planning Application for the Ben More Hydro scheme (see here) is to be considered by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Planning Committee tomorrow (see here). I had intended to speak to my objection but have been called elsewhere. While there are provisions for objectors to nominate substitutes, there are none to allow…
At the end of November, I took a critical look at the Balloch Charrette, the community planning event that took place in 2016 (see here) AFTER the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority had already committed to Flamingo Land going ahead. Out of the event came an Action Plan (see here) complete with lead partners…
I had walked up Glen Prosen a couple of weeks ago to look at the new roads at the head of the Glen but was prompted by the 26 traps we saw to blog first on wildlife and trapping in the Cairngorms National Park (see here). This post will took at the two new roads…
To mark Save Loch Lomond Day, which is being run by Save Loch Lomond to celebrate the number of objections to the Flamingo Land Planning Application reaching 35,000, I thought I would take a look at how boating on the loch is being commercialised. In January, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Park Authority, which was…
Following my last post on the seven Glen Etive hydro schemes (see here) I found that Mountaineering Scotland had issued an excellent news release prior to the site visit by Councillors on Monday (see here). This does not appear to have been picked up by the mainstream media. What did get coverage in the Press and…
A year after my post on how the signs in Glen Doll at the head of Glen Clova contravened access rights (see here) I revisited the glens. I was pleased to find that two of the three signs I had commented on have been removed. A number of regular visitors to the Glen commented on my…
Today the South Area Planning Committee of Highland Council is taking a (road-side) look at the sites of all seven proposed Glen Etive Hydro Schemes, and a further hydro scheme in Glen Coe. Then, at a special meeting on Wednesday at Council HQ in Inverness they will take a decision on the applications (see here…
Scotland’s Forest Strategy 2019-29 launched 10 days ago contains not a single reference to National Parks. There is just one reference to Caledonian Forest and that is within a paragraph which describes the range of woodland in Scotland. Nothing is said about the place of the Caledonian Forest in expanding forest cover across Scotland despite…
The Report in the Strathy last week was based on the proposals for winding up the former Cairngorm Mountain Ltd (CML) which the Administrator has lodged at Companies House (see here). This post takes a further look at what it reveals about the mismanagement of Cairngorm Mountain over the last five years. Background note…
Last week I was contacted out the blue by the press to comment on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s new £40k a year Litter Manager. The Herald gave this extensive coverage (see here) – and even referred to my views in their Leader calling on the Park to take tougher action. …
I was up in Glen Clova with friends for the weekend and on Saturday, which was wild and very windy, went for a walk up Glen Prosen with Helen Todd who works as campaigns and policy manager for Ramblers Scotland. Our intention was to take a closer look at the restoration of the hydro…
Following my post on the Cairngorms National Park local elections (see here), which will be decided by postal vote on Thursdays 21st March, nominations for people wishing to stand close next week, at 4pm on Wednesday 13th February. Its really important for democracy and for the future of the National Park that local residents have…
Yesterday, I received a copy of a paper on the development of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s Camping Development Strategy which had been considered by their “Delivery Group” on 22nd November 2018. This post will take a look at what that paper tells us about the adequacy of provision for campers in…
Highland and Islands Enterprise’s announcement last week (see here) that the funicular would remain out of action for the summer and possibly longer, failed to explain what has caused the problems or the likely cost of the repairs that might be needed to make it safe to use again. Meantime it has announced that the…