David Lintern, the wild land photographer who writes for Walk Highland, contacted me last week about the Ben Glas hydro scheme, above the Beinglas farm campsite at the head of Loch Lomond. He has written a heartfelt and poetic piece on his blog http://www.davidlintern.com/blog/ about this, along with photos which show the destruction that is taking…
It was good to see that the Cairngorms National Park Authority have issued a statement condemning the latest raptor killing http://cairngorms.co.uk/statement-re-goshawk-shooting/ and its well worth reading Raptor Persecution Scotland’s response https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/statement-from-cairngorms-national-park-authority-re-shot-goshawk/ This provides all the evidence which anyone might need about why the CNPA needs to act. However, while I have a lot of sympathy for…
Raptor Persecution Scotland has published information today about a goshawk criminally killed on a “sporting” estate in Donside, in the eastern part of the Cairngorms National Park, in April – the exact location has not been revealed. The comments rightly raise question about how such crimes are allowed to continue our National Parks and some suggestions…
The failure of Aileen McLeod to be re-elected to the Scottish Parliament means there will be a new Minister for the Environment in the new Scottish Government. This post – which is responsible for our National Parks – has existed, under one title or another, since the creation of the Scottish Parliament. Dr McLeod was…
In London, what appears to be a very successful campaign is developing to turn it into the world’s first National Park city. The proposal won the support of the Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat and Green candidates for the London Mayor election. Its proponents, from health experts to nature conservationists, architects to geographers, are now trying…
Like many people, I have not had a good thing to say about the banks for several years. Following the financial crisis, I came to the conclusion that the banks should not be allowed to issue paper currency or create electronic money, as debt, out of thin air. Such money is often used in socially…
When Aileen McLeod, the Minister for the Environment, approved the camping byelaws she made a couple of conditions, that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park produce annual reports and undertake a three year review. The Park had previously undertaken a review of the east Loch Lomond byelaws, which was deeply flawed, but which they…
I have come across a few pieces in the media over the last two weeks which I believe show just how out of touch the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority are in their attempt to stamp out camping and fires. Beltane, fires and the Park Beltane, one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, was…
The Scottish Labour Party issued its election manifesto on Wednesday, for some strange reason long after the other political parties. Judging by the 2.7k hits on its website there has not been that much interest but, unlike the SNP, it does make commitments in respect to National Parks: ” Scottish Labour in government established…
In the Government Press release announcing the camping byelaws Dr McLeod made a powerful claim to justify her decision: “The evidence that I have seen of damage caused, particularly in some of the most environmentally fragile spots in the National Park, tells a compelling tale of the need for action. Abandoned campsites, discarded litter,…
Last week I received EIR 2016-003 Review Response from the LLTNPA which confirmed their decision not to release information about why they had decided to develop a campsite at Loch Chon https://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2016/03/27/con-loch-chon-proposed-trossachs-west-camping-management-zone/. I will appeal to the FOI Commissioner (my fourth appeal, the first two of which have resulted in the Park releasing information and…
Judging by the election manifestos, our political parties do not see National Parks as a political issue issue or believe they are so far down the political agenda that there is no need to say anything meaningful about them. I think this is not just unfortunate, its a mistake politically. Part of any vision for…
Our current ‘national’ parks in Scotland are little more than a fiasco. I detest even using that term to describe what the last Labour administration delivered and what the subsequent SNP administration still supports, as what they have given us are not real national parks, but a farrago masquerading as a façade that is parodying…
The LLTNPA used claims about damage to trees by rogue campers as part of their justification for the camping byelaws, their main evidence being a few photos. Previous posts on Parkswatch have criticised these claims, pointing out most of the woodland in the area owes its survival to coppicing and far more damage is done…
Four months after Owen McKee’s resignation as Convener of the Planning Committee for failing to declare his trading in the Cononish goldmine shares, the LLTNPA Board appointed him to the Audit Committee – the committee whose function is to ensure the good governance of the Park! While it is possible to understand the reluctance…
The Standards Commission held its Hearing into Owen McKee, the former Convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s Planning Committee who had been trading in the shares of the Cononish goldmine, while I was away last week. They decided that, had he not resigned from the Park last August, they would have suspended…
I have been away for a week but last Sunday Rob Edwards reported on the purchase of part of the Rothiemurchus estate by the FCS in the Sunday Herald – the full story can be found at https://theferret.scot/1m-tax-sweetener-cairngorms-land-deal/ It raises some critical questions about the role of FCS in our National Parks. How is…
Angling on Loch Lomond just reached the front page of the Herald yesterday and a sizeable piece inside http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14406526.Anglers__ban_on_taking_home_salmon_caught_in_Loch_Lomond_based_on_flawed_figures/. The decision to ban the killing of wild salmon in many areas of Scotland was taken by the Rural Affairs, Climate Change of Environment Committee of the Scottish Parliament (RACCE) on 9th March when they approved…
This lovely positive film http://www.hakaimagazine.com/video/right-roam puts Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park to shame. People are filmed driving to beautiful places and camping by the roadside to paddle on lochs – just as they do in the National Park. A great counter argument to the LLTNPA and FCS who wish to remove roadside camping…
The Standards Commission has arranged a hearing for Owen McKee, the former Board Member of Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s Authority who failed to declare he was trading in shares in the Cononish Goldmine, at 11.00 am on Tuesday 12th April at the the LLTNPA HQ, Carrochan, Balloch. I also understand that the Commissioner…
There was more press coverage last week about the reduction in cycle storage capacity on the West Highland Line http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14388363.Campaigners_warn_that_train_refurbishments_will_slash_space_for_bikes/ On Friday I received a response to my letter to Gordon Watson about whether the Park had made any representations about the impact this would have on tourism in the Park. I covered the…
There is an interesting thread on mountain hare persecution and National Parks on Raptor Persecution Scotland https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/sustainable-mountain-hare-culls-wheres-the-evidence/ Its very good that people are beginning to question not just why mountain hare persecution is happening but also why, of all places, its being allowed in our National Parks. Mike, my climbing partner on Thursday,…
Driving up to the northern Cairngorms yesterday to climb, protests by people in Aviemore about the disgusting taste of their drinking water was headline news on Radio Scotland. Scottish Water’s response was technocratic, that they would introduce a different process in 2017 which should make the water taste better http://www.scottishwater.co.uk/investment-and-communities/your-community/aviemore-2016 There was…
Last week, the Tory Government at Westminster published an 8 – Point Plan for National Parks in England http://www.cnp.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploadsfiles/National%20Parks%20Plan.pdf In the introduction it states the Government has an “ambition to put National Parks at the heart of the way we think about the environment”. Contrast this level of interest with this week’s Political Hustings…
Douglas McAdam, Chief Executive of Scottish Land and Estates had an article in the Sunday Herald today http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/14386203.A_landowner_s_defence_of_culling_mountain_hares/ defending the killing of hares in which he referred to the Cairngorms at the end. He was obviously trying to persuade our politicians, who I have heard read the Sunday Herald, and the CNPA that everything is…