A couple of hours after my post on FLS yesterday (see here) I received a response from FLS to a Freedom of Information request I had submitted on 24th February about the Sallochy campsite. I can find no acknowledgement from FLS of that request in my emails so the timing of their response is interesting! …
Category: Loch Lomond and Trossachs
I came across this scene yesterday at Forest and Land Scotland (FLS)’s car park in Glen Righ near the Corran Ferry. It exemplifies our public authorities’ failed approach to visitor management in the countryside. It is so bad it is hard not to laugh. Telling people to do things without providing appropriate infrastructure – in…
The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT)’s announcement earlier this week that they had purchased the Inverbroom Estate (see here) should be another nail in the coffin for so-called green finance. Tucked away in their news release is a very significant statement: “Following the purchase, the Trust has announced several ambitions for the site, from the regeneration…
Last week the Scottish Government published the fourth piece of legislation this Parliament ostensibly intended to improve how we use and manage land in the countryside, including National Parks – the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill (see here for papers) This follows the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, passed a year ago and…
Last week I visited the Allt Broighleachan Caledonian Pinewood Reserve on the north side of Glen Orchy (and outside the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park) on my way to Glen Coe. It was my second visit, inspired in part by the Caledonian Pinewood Conference which took place last Autumn and which I viewed online…
When first writing about the renewal of Scottish Enterprise (SE)’s Conditional Missives (Exclusivity Agreement) with Flamingo Land (see here) I had argued it was not clear if SE had voluntarily extended the agreement or was contractually obliged to do so. I had previously submitted a Freedom of Information request on 14th January asking SE to…
Following my first post setting out the background to Lomond Banks appeal and why the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s reasons for refusing the development were so weak (see here & above), this post considers Flamingo’s Land grounds for appeal as set out in their Appeal Statement (see here) and will form…
On 20th December, just before the statutory deadline expired, Flamingo Land lodged an appeal with the Scottish Government against the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s decision to refuse their proposed development at Balloch. On the same day Scottish Enterprise (SE) announced they were extending their “Exclusivity Agreement” with Flamingo Land to enable…
On Wednesday the Helensburgh Advertiser ran a story stating that Kirsty Young’s proposal to build a luxury lodge on Inchconnachan, the island on Loch Lomond best known for its wallabies, had been approved (see here). While technically correct this was misleading as the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s planning committee approved…
A parkswatch reader recently sent me this photo of an unattractive development on the bonnie banks The two new lodges were originally granted planning permission by Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) planning staff in April 2018 with work required to commence within three years (see here for planning papers). The planning deadline…
The risk to Nick’s proposal to suspend the Scottish Forestry Grants system for a year (see here) is that you destroy the woodland creation capacity we currently have, including tree nurseries, and in a way that we never get it back again. No-one will ever trust the Scottish Government again and they won’t invest in…
How to reduce Scotland’s climate emissions and damage to nature – suspend the forestry grants system
On 19th December 2023 the Scottish Government announced that Scottish Forestry’s grant budget would be cut by £32m or 41% for the year 2024/25. Almost a year later the Scottish Government, in its budget for 2025/26 announced ion 4th December, is proposing to increase spending on forestry grants next year from £45,367,000 to £53,000,000 a…
There are two ways in which the Scottish Government attempts to increase the extent of native woodland grant at present, the first is by directly funding native woodland creation like at Far Ralia or BrewDog’s Lost Forest, the second is by requiring all new and re-planted commercial forestry to include a proportion of native trees….
In January 2020 the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) announced (see here) it had secured £135k in funding from Visit Scotland’s Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund to modernise the toilet facilities and install smart bins at its Visitor Centre in Balmaha: “We know that the provision of things like high quality toilets and…
This Saturday Page/Park architects, who are acting on behalf of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) and West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC), are holding a public “engagement event” at the pierhead in Balloch. What is now described as an “Improvement Action Plan” was, back in June, called a masterplan – as I explained…
What is sustainable development in Scotland’s National Parks? The case of the Bracklinn Falls bridge
This week the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) announced (see here) it had won international award for the replacement bridge over the Bracklinn Falls above Callander, a story which was widely covered in the media. The news release claimed that “a bridge has existed here since at least the early 18th century”…
On 26th January the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) announced its “Tarbet Visitor site” would be completely closed for 8 weeks from the 29th January as part of a £2.1m upgrade and after that the car parking area would be limited until late summer (see here). Eight months later the works were…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), while recently oft proclaiming its concern about the collapse of nature, has appeared completely uninterested in the excellent ecological research that is taking place in its area, let alone promoting it to the general public. A recent example of this a comment made on my first…
After the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 was passed the days of sporting estate landowners trying to impose blanket restrictions on access across swathes of the countryside in the name of deer stalking should have ended. Unfortunately this sign shows that that practice, now unlawful, continues 20 years on. The red and green colours say…
This is the view that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) planners didn’t want people to enjoy. In August 2021 LLTNPA planning officers recommended a planning application from the Sir Walter Scott Steamship Trust to erect a viewing tower accessed by 188m of path throught the oakwoods above Trossachs Pier be refused….
Importance of the pinewoods. Forestry policy, private and public landowners and deer management will be under scrutiny next week at the native pinewoods conference in Fort William (28/29 Oct see here). This post examines what needs to happen to save our ancient Caledonian pinewoods and who might lead the way. The future of our Caledonian…
The planning application for the Loch Lomond rescue boat at Balloch – a positive decision badly made
On 10th October Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) planning officers approved a planning application to build a new station and slipway, access road and associated parking for the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat near the pierhead in Balloch. The Rescue Boat is a charity operated by volunteers and so far this year…
On Monday 16th September, as widely reported in the media – the BBC gave it coverage on UK news – those of the board of the Loch Lomond Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) present duly accepted the recommendations of their officers, without amendment, and rejected Flamingo Land’s planning application. This outcome was as I had…
Late yesterday the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)published an 187 page report (see here) with additional appendices for the board meeting on 16th September recommending board members reject Flamingo Land’s proposed development at “Lomond Banks”. While a welcome victory for campaigners, before anyone celebrates too much the reasons given at the end…
In my two posts on the Flamingo Land story (see here) I covered some of the history of the pier head area in Balloch: how the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) in 2015 had offered up the land it leased from Scottish Enterprise (SE) there to the preferred developer for the West…