“A mountain coaster is a massive source of income but has to be implemented by the community”. This was part of a Facebook post on Sunday 23/06/2019, the claim being that the business plan proposed by the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust (A&GCT) and the SE Group showed a good profit could be made from…
The last thing I was expecting when I was writing on Tuesday about the democratic deficits in our planning system (see here) was for West Dunbartonshire Council to vote unanimously to oppose the Flamingo Land development, but that is what they did at their Council meeting last night. Tories, SNP, Labour and Community Party Councillors…
On Monday the Green MSP, Alison Johnstone, launched a public consultation on a Members Bill to introduce a ban on fox hunting and further restrict the killing of mountain and brown hares (see here). The Bill is partly in response to the failure of the Scottish Government to respond adequately to Lord Bonomy’s report into…
Democracy and the planning system – the National Park, West Dunbartonshire Council and Flamingo Land
I was honoured to be on the platform last night for the Save Loch Lomond meeting in Balloch about the proposed Flamingo Land Development…… along with five elected politicians. There were some great contributions which you can view on Independence Live (here). Flamingo Land, Scottish Enterprise and local SNP politicians, possibly in thrall to the SNP…
After the criticisms in my last post about the way the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority is being managed (see here), its good to be able to report that the Park’s management have got something right. At today’s Planning Committeethey are recommending that the Planning Application from the Wards Estate for a function…
On 19/02/2019 I applied to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, under a Freedom of Information request, for the ADAC Structures report into the Condition of the Funicular Railway from November 2015, (see here – 6.5MB file). I subsequently received this on May Bank holiday Monday, 06/05/2019, at 09.31. This was five days after the Big Breakfast…
The public accountability of our Public Authorities has, over the last twenty years, been reduced to a thread. Part of the reason for this is that journalists are, with a few honourable exceptions, no longer employed to report on what our Public Authorities are up to. The days of the media regularly reporting on Board…
After my post on The Scottish Planning Bill, hill tracks and our National Parks a reader sent in what appears to be a standard letter which SNP MSPs have been sending to constituents who have lobbied them. With Andy Wightman’s amendments to bring most hill roads into the planning system due to be debated in…
On 15th May, after climbing in Glen Coe, I stopped off to show my climbing partner the camping permit area at Inveruglas – one of several the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park has created which are not fit for purpose. Most of the permit area – like many others in the National Park –…
Scottish Enterprise’s decision to make a joint planning application with Flamingo Land at Balloch, with a view to selling off the publicly owned gateway to the National Park for private profit, is looking increasingly foolhardy. First Scottish Enterprise included the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, the body that has to decide the planning…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s Trees and Woodland Strategy (3) – where are the trees?
The public consultation on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s Trees and Woodland Strategy closes today (to respond go here). Following my posts about how the absence of any plans in ths strategy means that the management of “productive” conifer forests is unlikely to change (see here) and the missed opportunities for native woodland…
Audit Scotland has at long last decided to take a look at Highland and Island Enterprise’s management of Cairn Gorm (see here) as part of their annual audit process. The areas for investigation have been identified with staff, which gives little cause for confidence, and focuses on risk from the narrow perspective of an annual…
Background The Planning Bill, which is about to be considered again by the Scottish Parliament, originated as a response to developers who claimed that the Planning System was an impediment to “economic development”. The real explanation for why developments can take a long time to materialise lies in most developments being driven first and foremost…
On Monday the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority re-advertised (see here) the Flamingo Land Planning Application and announced a new statutory 28 period for the public to respond. The reason for this is that Ian Cowan, the consultant commissioned by Ross Greer and the Greens whose work has been financed by a crowdfunding…
Last week (see here) I argued that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s Trees and Woodlands Strategy is not a strategy at all because it contains no plans for how it intends to achieve its proposed vision and objectives. In effect its simply a vision with some guidance for landowners, including Scottish Ministers who,…
The compulsory parking charge scheme at Cairn Gorm, introduced by Natural Retreats in June 2018 was dropped in September of that year (see here). There was no point in continuing to make parking charges compulsory when the Funicular failed and the number of tourist visits crashed. The number of skiers who visited Cairn Gorm last…
The consultation (see here) on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s draft woodland and trees strategy, which is intended to set the strategic direction for forestry in the National Park for the next 20 years, closes on Monday. At the LLTNPA Board Meeting in March, which agreed the consultation, it was revealed that the Strategy…
The Garabal Estate, which consists of a broad strip of land running south west from Inverarnan at the head of Loch Lomond is up for sale (see here for brochure). The asking price is c£652 an acre. This post takes a look at the issues this raises for the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National…
On the same day, 24th May, that the Cairngorms National Park issued a news piece entitled Our National Treasures about the European Day of Parks, the police issued a news release about four geese that had been found poisoned near Loch Gynack by Kingussie at the end of April. This received excellent coverage on Raptor…
Parkswatch previously published information about the amounts collected from Voluntary Donations at the Coire Cas car park between 2013 and 2017 (see here). HIE were asked to detail how that money had been spent and although they ‘did not have that information’’ they asserted ‘funds were committed to car park maintenance and other projects’ We…
Fourteen months ago I first blogged about the The Drumlean Case (1) – an incredibly important decision for access rights in Scotland. I still believe that, I think its really helped reinvigorate and inspire the access teams in our National Parks and those that have so far survived the cuts in our Local Authorities (I will…
The revised Planning Application to redevelop and expand the Ptarmigan Restaurant near the top of Cairn Gorm is to be considered by the Cairngorms National Park Authority on Friday (see here – item 6). Officers are recommending that the application should be approved. This post explains why CNPA Board Members should reject the application and…
Access issues created by the Forestry Commission – now Forest and Land Scotland – feature prominently in the first edition of the new Arrochar-Succoth-Tarbet community newsletter. Parkswatch first blogged about the longstanding access problems at Cruach Tairbeart, which forms a fine viewpoint between the head of Loch Long, a year ago (see here). A friend…
Highlands and Islands Enterprise, as owners and custodians of the Cairn Gorm Estate, have full responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the public assets that lie within the estate. In an article published in the Press and Journal on Thursday 16 May 2019 headed “Cairngorm funicular report held up over potential legal action” (see…
The 28 day statutory minimum consultation period on the revised Flamingo Land Planning Consultation ends on Monday when Green MSP, Ross Greer, is due to hand in over 52,000 objections he has helped gather to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority. The LLTNPA, to it credit, has said that it will continue to…