The latest plans to develop the shores of Loch Lomond were made known to the wider public at the weekend (see here – includes photomontage). Tom Hunter wants to develop a £10m “global leadership centre”, named after him, at Ross Priory on the South West corner of Loch Lomond. Ross Priory is run…
Category: Loch Lomond and Trossachs
My apologies for accidentally omitting the final three paras from Dave Morris’ post on Balmoral and the recommendations of the Deer Working Group.They have been added to the post and posted for convenience below. In the section of the Deer Working Report that addresses the impact of deer on the Natural Heritage there is an…
Anyone who wonders why new legislation is needed to regulate deer numbers in Scotland need only study this photograph, taken in Oct 2018, and then read David Lintern’s fine article from 2017 on Walkhighlands “Bare hill of the Hind” (see here). The Walk Highlands article includes a video of a massive herd of red deer…
The Adventure Syndicate recently produced an excellent video on girls’ and young women’s participation in outdoor activities called “Should” (see here). It should be required viewing for every member of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board and their ranger service. Action 10 of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s draft…
Every year I check out the litter and marine debris washed up on the shore at the head of Loch Long at Arrochar, and occasionally the state of a similar beach at Lochgoilhead. Debris accumulates in vast quantities during the southerly gales and high tides that annually occur between October and late Spring. Because of…
On 16th December, just before the “dead” holiday period the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park launched a six week consultation on a new Outdoor Recreation Plan (ORP). The consultation closes at 5pm today (see here to respond). Mary Jack, earlier this month, considered the discussion at the Board Meeting prior to the consultation launch,…
The two fine letters speak for themselves. Sadly, there is now widespread misunderstanding about the law on access across Scotland: Camping is one of the activities covered by access rights but but those rights specifically exclude motor vehicles. This slide, appended to the consultation document issued by the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust on Freedom…
A winter’s day In a deep and dark December Is what it was for most of December. Dreich was the word to describe it. What better kind of day for a trip down memory lane? I first climbed on Creagh Meagaidh in the early 1970’s. The place gripped me from the start. The location was,…
Not a week goes seems to go by without some group of business interests claiming they are paying too much tax. Ten days ago the operators of small scale hydro schemes, many of which are quite large, were back at it (see here for example). Not content with the enormous subsidies that they have received…
I was pleased to get this letter into the Badenoch and Strathspey Herald on Thursday in response to their excellent coverage the week before about the potential for camping byelaws to be introduced into the Cairngorms National Park Authority. While it was good to see Grant Moir, the CNPA Chief Executive (above) deny there…
[Postscript – Good News! An hour or so after this was published the CNPA Planning Committee rejected this Planning Application by two votes! Well done them and what a contrast to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority where Board Members rubber stamp whatever is recommended by officers. What the CNPA now needs to…
Three years AFTER the introduction of the camping byelaws, its been revealed that there is a “growing problem of litter and waste in the National Park”. Remember all those photos of abandoned tents left by campers who were blamed for the litter problems in the National Park and which were used to justify the introduction…
Residents of Portincaple have produced an excellent short video (see here) for their campaign launch on Monday explaining the development which threatens their local community and why they are opposed to it. The Hovering Scotsman has also supported them by providing another video showing the wonderful landscape of Loch Long along with the aims of…
After the criticisms in my last post of the lack of transparency in the planning system, its nice to report that in other areas the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority is showing signs of improvement. The LLTNPA’s recent publication of Deer Management Plans for the area is particularly welcome. The impact of deer…
Although the Flamingo Land Planning Application may have been temporarily withdrawn, the relentless development of the south west quarter of Loch Lomond continues from Balloch in the south to Mouldale Properties plans for Tarbet in the north. In October the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s Planning Committee approved plans to increase the size…
The meeting on 9th December got off to a late start as several of the Board members were late for the 9.30 am kick off – change from the usual 10.00 am start. The Agenda was very full with only one break from start to finish. This was a very welcome change from last year’s…
The single worst thing about the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park (LL&TNP) stems from its origins as a Forest Park. An absurd proportion of its once-handsome glens have lost all natural character and beauty to curtains of sitka spruce along their lower and middle slopes, often drawn so tightly as to preclude any pleasant…
The main investment in new visitor infrastructure that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority has made this year is in upgrading facilities on their land at Tarbet and Inveruglas on the west shore of Loch Lomond. Tarbet featured in no less than 6 different sections of the Annual Operational Plan Progress Report submitted…
The Werritty report (see here), which was published a week before Xmas, is not disappointing, as some have claimed, its what everyone should have expected. Both the remit for the review and the membership of the review group were wrong from the outset. The question which the Scottish Government should have asked is not whether…
Last week the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s Board approved their third Annual Update on the camping byelaws for Scottish Ministers (see here item 6). They still describe this as “Your Park” – an insult to the dozens of people, anglers for example, who used to camp freely along the loch shores enjoying…
I was pleased to get this letter on Scottish Power’s plans to cover land around their windfarms with solar panels into the Herald the weekend before last . While our two National Parks may have no windfarms within their boundaries, the broader issue, the impact of renewable energy developments on the carbon held in soils,…
A month after the Flamingo Land Planning Application was withdrawn on 17th September (see here), I submitted an information request to clarify further the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board’s involvement in the whole process. EIR 2019-022 Response arrived a couple of weeks ago. It provides several insights into the Flamingo Land Planning…
While who gets elected in the General Election may in large part be decided by attitudes to Scottish Independence and Brexit, the wider issues facing the world are the ongoing crisis in the capitalism, the climate emergency and the collapse of the natural environment. Our National Parks are microcosms of that wider world and reflect…
Fires and National Parks I have been back from Australia two weeks. Yesterday I checked on the fire that had been burning in the Wollemi National Park when I was out there (see here). Its still burning. At the end of October, soon after it started, 3400 hectares of the National Park, the second…
Next Monday the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority will be asked to approve its third Annual Update Report to Scottish Ministers on the camping byelaws and a revised Outdoor Recreation Plan for public consultation (see here for meeting papers). I will take a critical look at the the content of these Board Papers…