On Monday, the lead letter in the Herald was about the destruction going on at Cairngorm under the aegis of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and calling for the Scottish Government to remove ownership of the ski area from HIE. I have been looking out for a response from HIE. There has been none. The Herald…
The planning permission that was granted to replace the shieling t-bar with a new lift, the sheiling rope tow, and to reprofile the slope was conditional on Natural Retreats keeping to the plans it had submitted, most of which were contained in the Method Statement. The photo above provides proof that this was simply ignored:permission…
I was in Glen Lyon yesterday, enjoying the weather window in the earlier part of the day, to run over a few hills but must confess to thinking a few times about my last post. I was worried if I had got the wording right so it was re-assuring to return and see there has…
“It is not felling or fire that destroys a pine wood, but overgrazing of the ground beneath and beyond, whether by sheep or by deer.” Chris Smout On Thursday Rothiemurchus made a Facebook post of a burning granny pine and the following comment: “A sad day on Rothiemurchus today. One of our beautiful…
I am pleased to see that there is a Hen Harrier day event in the Cairngorm National Park at 1pm on Sunday at Cairngorm https://www.facebook.com/events/253914288297410/. I am even more delighted to see that Peter Argyle, convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority is one of the speakers. In the last few months I have posted…
It is good to be able to report that following coverage on Parkswatch, Natural Retreats has been making some effort to clear up Cairngorm. Indeed it has created a new section on the Cairngorm Mountain website to try and convince the wider world that they are doing a good job http://www.cairngormmountain.org/category/behind-the-scenes/. Last Sunday I walked…
Following my post on the LLTNPA’s unfortunate decision to use National Park’s week to launch its new litter enforcement powers, when other National Parks across the UK were celebrating the theme of adventure, there was an excellent letter in the Herald today from James Fraser, Chair of the Friends of Loch Lomond and Trossachs. (While…
In my first post on the proposed campsite at Loch Chon and camping in Strathard, I included the two photos below and questioned why, since its since its impossible to camp along most of the north shore of Loch Ard, this area had ever been included in the proposed camping ban? …
A fair amount of information has come to light in the last three weeks about the LLTNPA’s camping plans which raises serious further concerns about both the adequacy of those plans and the whole camping byelaw proposal. Camping in Strathard It says a lot about the LLTNPA that they have kept their camping…
Yesterday was the start of National Parks week, an annual celebration of National Parks in the UK. The theme of National Parks week this year is adventure. The Cairngorm National Park Authority has responded to this with a positive press release press release about celebrating National Parks, announcing a number of events and encouraging people…
A week ago the National Trust for Scotland announced that four hen harrier chicks had fledged on their Mar Lodge estate, in the central Cairngorms. Raptor Persecution Scotland commented in their blog last week time that the chances of the young harriers surviving were extremely low given the history of raptor persecution in the Cairngorms…
I was delighted that the coverage by parkswatchscotland of the destruction at Cairngorm was picked up by Rob Edwards in the Sunday Herald and on his website two weeks ago. The articles are significant because they include confirmation from a senior member of staff within the Cairngorms National Park Authority that the work undertaken by…
Dear LLTNPA, Your Guidance on Renewables recommends the use of fencing should be kept to a minimum. Is this fencing at the Derrydarroch power station what was meant? Or has perhaps this been designed to keep walkers on the West Highland Way, from where this photo was taken, at bay?
Dear LLTNPA, I know that the LLTNPA is very pre-occupied with branding, so that every signpost has to be in your corporate colours, but I really wonder if this is the best way to get messages across? I have been a few time to the Carrick Nature reserve and never seen any litter. There…
Dear CNPA, I know that you did all you can to influence the siting of the Beauly-Denny powerline away from the National Park and this was not your decision, but should our National Parks not be able to influence and enforce proper restoration…
Dear LLTNPA, I am afraid by the time you read this, the section of turf in the photo will have long gone – its just too comfortable for cattle to walk on. This is a shame because your Guidance on Renewables recommends the creation of a turf/soil strip along the centre of all new…
Dear LLTNPA, I was interested to see in May that meters had been installed at the carpark in Inveruglas. I appreciate you are short of money but it seems to me particularly mean to advertise the new wooden structure at Inveruglas, as part of Scotland’s scenic routes, and then charge people for…
Dear LLTNPA, In May I visited the Loch Venachar quay site off the Invertrossachs Road where you installed a new carpark with gates last year, just outside Invertrossachs House, the home of your convener Linda McKay. I note that the trees on the quay, which were not in the original plans, were growing particularly…
Dear CNPA, Apologies, I could not find the best card. The track in the foreground as you will recognise is outwith your boundary but the one in the far distance is within it. Travelling through the Drumochter though I am not sure the boundary has made any difference: every hillside is cut like…
Dear LLTNPA, I know at the behest of the Scottish Government both our National Parks have been promoting scenic routes and as part of this some interesting sculptures have been created over the last year or so including the structure at Inveruglas. To many people like myself though the natural beauty of the area speaks…
Dear LLTNPA, I spotted these tents at Bein Glas campsite on Sunday 26th June at 9.30 am. They looked abandoned to me and sure enough they were still there late afternoon. When you published all those photos of abandoned tents by the lochshores you implied that banning camping outwith controlled areas would stop these problems…
Dear CNPA, I have some sympathy with you as planning authority, about the destruction and mess at the Coire Cas T-bar because, after Natural Retreats claimed emergency work was needed to replace the t-bar gantry before the last ski season, Highland Council let them proceed without planning permission. This provides an opportunity for the…
Dear CNPA, If you want to know just how much material Natural Retreats removed from the bank below the Shieling ski tow without planning permission, this photo all the evidence you need. Hard to believe that HIE is now justifying this on the grounds that “the area around the base of the lift needed…
One of the objections I submitted to the LLTNPA’s development plan Response – Development Plan and Camping was it used totally different terminology to describe campsites than what has been used in the Your Park consultation – a case of one part of the Park not talking to another. (See https://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2016/06/07/park-authority-applies-planning-permission-unwanted-campsite-loch-chon/) I emailed the Park’s…
When I set up parkswatchscotland in March I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. I had broadly conceived it as an open platform for people concerned about our two National Parks and had hoped to get a team of active contributors within a few weeks. I thought I might write a…