Following my post (see here) on the discussion of litter at the last Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Board meeting, it was good to see Peter Jack’s lead letter to the Herald. I hope this…
At the Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board Meeting on 12th December Bob Ellis, the Board Member on the Local Access Forum, reported he had been to visit the Loch Chon campsite and suggested other Board Members might also visit. Having visited last Sunday to look at the work in progress I recommend they…
I have been meaning for several months to blog about the Bruar hydro scheme but have been prompted to do so by recent praise from the Cairngorms National Park Authority’s for their own planning performance (see here). I am not disputing there may have been improvements in certain aspects of the National Park’s planning performance,…
After the two candidates for convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Board had made their speeches last Monday, Cllr Fergus Wood asked if he could put a question to the candidates. The answer from convener Linda McKay and Governance Manager Amanda Aitkman was NO. Cllr Fergus then gave a resigned shrug of…
The implementation of the camping byelaws dominated the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board meeting last Monday, with discussion taking place across a number of different agenda items. This is a reflection of what is happening to our National Park, its allowed all its resources and efforts to focus on one issue, and…
Ten days ago I raised question about how much Natural Retreats is actually investing at Cairngorm (see here). The question of who is responsible for investing what at Cairngorm is complicated and not easy to see from the lease between Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Natural Retreats (I am working on it). This FOI response …
If you have not read it, I would commend the lecture Andy Wightman gave last week on the case for a renewal of Scottish democracy. I am not a member of any political party, the lecture does not mention National Parks but what it says is, I believe, entirely relevant to our National Parks and…
Most members of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority appear to have spent Monday morning in yet another “Board Briefing session” before the public Board meeting, but had they walked round the riverside area in Balloch it might have helped them inject a sense of perspective into to the discussion of camping byelaws…
Donald Trump was in the national media at the weekend for failing to keep to the planning agreements he had made at the Menie golf course North of Aberdeen. While this should have come as no surprise to those who have followed that saga there are similarities with how Natural Retreats have acted at Cairngorm. …
I have attended all the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority meetings since April 2015, when the Board agreed to recommend camping byelaws to the Minister, and in all that time the Board has never been asked to make a choice in public about anything. This is because everything has been decided in secret…
On Friday Mountaineering Scotland issued a news release calling for the proposed introduction of camping byelaws on 1st March to be suspended for a year to allow for a re-think. The story was covered in the Herald on Saturday (see here). It is great that a recreational body (which I was closely involved with in…
Forgive my third post in a row on the camping byelaws but I think its time the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Board was exposed to some public scrutiny before it takes decisions rather than afterwards. I have vivid memories of the meeting which approved the byelaws in April 2015, the first I…
After yesterday’s post I have been reflecting on the proposed signage that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Board is being asked to approve on Monday. The message given by the sign above is that there is a zone where camping is managed. Nothing else. So if you drive by in a…
Anyone who cares about access rights in Scotland should read the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park paper which reveals how it hopes to implement the camping byelaws next March. Its for the Board meeting next Monday and provides some explanation – not enough…
Ewan Kearney, Director and the public face of Natural Retreats/Natural Assets claimed in the Strathy article last week that: “Natural Assets has invested £1.3m into CML [Cairngorm Mountain Ltd] at Cairngorm over the last two years. In addition to this any profit generated through CML as a result of the operation is invested…
This excellent article, about Natural Retreats’ failure to invest in Cairngorm and the possibility of a community run enterprise taking over the ski area, appeared in the Badenoch and Strathspey Advertiser last week. While I have been in close communication with the Save the Ciste group, some of whose members have kept me…
Several readers alerted me to the piece on Good Morning Scotland yesterday about the camping byelaws and the campsite at Loch Chon. I don’t think I’ve seen any better demonstration of the hyprocrisy of the…
In 2013 the Cairngorms National Park Authority was informed about the extension and expansion of hill tracks on the Dinnet Estate owned by former CNPA Board Member Marcus Humphrey. These works had been undertaken without planning permission by Findrack Investments Ltd who lease the shooting (both deer and grouse as far as I am aware)…
I have been pondering further what Roseanna Cunningham, the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, said about more evidence being needed before the Government can act to protect mountain hares (see here) when I believe action could be taken in our National Parks now. Roseanna Cunningham never…
Last year, between June and August, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority commissioned Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) to undertake a litter audit in the four proposed camping management zones. I have been asking for the audit report ever since under FOI and last week, 13 months later, after another enquiry was told it…
On 24th November the Scottish Government finally announced it has agreed the permanent re-introduction of beavers to Scotland. Despite beavers being role in improving water quality, flood prevention and promoting more diverse habitiats and species, all objectives of the Scottish Government, the “decision” was far from a foregone conclusion. The whole process shows the power…
It turns out I was wrong to say in yesterday’s post on the protection of mountain hares (see here) that at least the Cairngorms National Park Authority keeps minutes of meetings……………… Raptor Persecution Scotland revealed later in the day (see here) that the minute had been taken by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association not the National…
Last week Raptor Persecution Scotland reported on the OneKind demonstration against the slaughter of mountain hares outside the Scottish Parliament on the 17th November: “Environment Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham addressed the rally and said the Scottish Government opposes mass culls, that legislation to protect mountain hares has not been ruled out, but that the…
Anyone who responded to the Your Park consultation or followed the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park plans for new campsites will recognise this photo of tents pitched on wooden platforms. While this slide from the secret LLTNPA Board Meetings (see here) reveals this was this was a specific proposal for the Ardvorlich Estate it…
Well paid jobs in rural areas in Scotland are few and far between and what I found the single most shocking single fact in the draft Cairngorms Partnership Plan was that the average wage in the Cairngorms National Park is 23% lower than the Scottish average. A consequence of this is that when developers…