Natural Retreats, the operator of the CairnGorm Mountain business, introduced compulsory parking charges at the end of June 2018. These parking charges replaced a voluntary scheme, that had been in operation since 2012, because insufficient funds were being donated, according to Natural Retreats. The amounts donated during each year since 2013 were: £10,426, £11,174, £11,427,…
Saturday was the first time I had been along the “camping management zone” on the west shore of Loch Lomond for a couple of months. Prior to the start of the camping byelaw “season” in March the LLTNPA spent a lot of money erecting “repeater” signs warning campers that they faced fines of up to…
At the end of June the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee considered the responses to its public consultation on Local Development Plan, the Main Issues Report, which has previously been covered on Parkswatch (see here for example). There were 331 responses and these are summarised and considered in a 247 page report to the…
The Glen Etive hydro proposals After the developments at the head of Glen Coe (see here), just when one thought it couldn’t get any worse, seven planning applications have been submitted for hydro schemes in Glen Etive on land owned by the Dalness Estate. Each scheme has been submitted as an individual application with its…
Last week the Herald reported figures from Trip Advisor showing that a trip through Glen Coe and other unnamed parts of the Highlands was rated as THE top visitor attraction in Scotland. The central importance of landscape and cultural history to tourism, not to mention our own physical and mental well-being, is well researched. Despite…
I was out in Balloch yesterday. There was an ambulance and crew parked and waiting just outside the area that has been cordoned off from the public for the European open water swimming championships. The explanation for this appears to have been that competitors for the championships were trying out their courses: I don’t know…
Listening to Radio Scotland on Wednesday, I heard a reporter extolling the wonders of Loch Lomond as the venue for the European open water swimming championships which takes place over four days starting on Wednesday 8th August (see here). Spectating at the event is free of charge and unticketed. The Reporter seemed blissfully aware of…
After my post on the state of the Coire na Ciste (see here), I have been comparing the state of the ski infrastructure higher up the hill with what is required under the terms of the lease between Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Cairngorm Mountain Ltd dated 11th June 2014 (see here for lease). The…
After my recent posts on the lack of agricultural (see here) and (see here) hydro tracks in the Pyrenees National Park and surrounding protected areas and how we could learn from this in Scotland, I thought it worth reminding readers what best practice in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park currently looks like. The…
Argyll and Bute Council have just announced that they are going to increase daily car parking charges at the main Cobbler car park (Glenloin No 1) and the neighbouring car park at the head of Loch Long (Glen Loin No 2) from £1 to £9 a day from the end of August. That’s a…
[Editor’s note: my apologies to James and readers, I had intended to appear publish James’ objection to the Flamingo Land proposal at the end of June. It makes a forceful case for nature] My objection to the Flamingo Land planning application was as follows. To the east, the Site Boundary is on the River…
Descending from the Brazato pass, after a long and wild walk up the Valle del Ara (see here), Banos de Panticosa came as a surprise. While in a brilliant location, nestled under a chain of 3000m peaks, it provides an example of how not to do developments, whether in National Parks (its right on the…
While the central Pyrenees has many beautiful natural mountain lakes, there has been significant hydro development for over 100 years and many lakes have been created or extended by dams. We came across hydro schemes on many days of our two week walk, even in remote places. In an interesting article (see here –…
The French Pyrenean National Park and the Ordesa and Mont Perdido National Park are much smaller than our two National Parks in Scotland but surrounded by large buffer zones where the National Park influences what activities take place and how land is managed. In the National Parks themselves there is no permanent human habitation and…
The Ordesa gorge is one of the great natural wonders of the Pyrenees, a sort of European version of the Grand Canyon but carved out by ice not water. It was designated as Spain’s first National Park a hundred years ago in August 1918 and since then has also been designated a World Heritage Site…
Between 18th and 21st September the Cairngorms National Park Authority are hosting the Europarc conference (see here) for “protected area professionals” . The theme of this year’s conference is “reconnecting young people with nature”. All attendees are being encouraged to bring a young person as part of the International Year of Young People and my…
The replacement extension to the Cairngorms National Park Authority HQ, which is now close to completion, has been attracting some critical comments in the Strathy. The building, which the Cairngorms National Park Authority leases, is owned by Reidhaven, more commonly known as Seafield Estates, which owns much…
I am away for a two week walking holiday through the Pyrenees and, while I have scheduled a few pieces for the first week, am then going to take a complete break. I’d like to thank regular readers for your support and comments and apologise that I have been unable to cover half the issues…
We decided to walk into Coire na Ciste, Monday 2 July 2018, and then up to the top of the Daylodge Poma and down to the Coire Cas carpark. The ‘path’ that follows the line of the [now demolished] Ciste Chairlift is very eroded at a point above the Allt na Ciste about 100m from…
Remember the main way the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority sold the byelaws as being necessary? Multiple photos of abandoned campsites which on closer examination turned out to be the same few campsites photographed from different angles. I will only post 1 photo of the abandoned tent here but there was other detritus…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority local member elections, which takes place by postal vote, were counted on Thursday. While the LLTNPA has only published the names of the successful candidates (see here) the full results can be found on the Stirling Council website Election results-2018. This post takes a look at the results…
Twenty five years ago a group of dynamic people interested in land-use in Scotland undertook a study tour of Norway and the subsequent report written by Andy Wightman, now a Green MSP (see here), inspired many people to get involved in developing alternatives to blanket blocks of Sitka, degraded grouse moors and deer “forests”. Last…
Three months ago, following the felling of over 100 trees by Drumkinnon Bay in Balloch I asked the question what was going on (see here)? In mid-June the police arrested a man from Alexandria in connection with the felling (see here) but there have been no further announcements about whether he was acting on someone’s order…
Restoration on North Drumochter Estate section of the Beauly Denny Anyone who has driven along the A9 recently and taken a passing look out the window will be aware of the extensive scars across the hillside north of Drumochter summit, scars created by the Beauly Denny construction tracks which SSE were supposed to have fully…
Loch Venachar used to be popular with anglers (it was once one of the best pike Lochs in Scotland) and provided one of the best places to camp in the Trossachs. With the introduction of the camping byelaws the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park considerably reduced the number of places where people were allowed…