What is the connection between national parks and Brexit? Not much might be your first reaction, but read on…… The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy has an influence on most of the UK’s countryside, from the intensively managed fields adjacent to our villages and towns to the highest summits where the sheep roam freely. Most…
Tag: CNPA
Most people travelling north over the Drumochter pass will have noticed the terrible scars across the hillside on the right after the summit. Many probably realise they are a consequence of the construction of the Beauly Denny powerline. Few will realise, unless they have read previous parkswatch posts, that this destruction has taken place in…
This being the muirburn season – I spotted four examples in the Cairngorms National Park on my way up to Aviemore 12 days ago – it was very interesting to see how the Scottish media picked up on the fire damage caused by a dropped cigarette rather than all the fires deliberately started by landowners. …
Last year parkswatch covered Fergus Ewing’s intervention on behalf of the owner of the Carrbridge Hotel, Mr Watt, to create a new car park in an area outside the village settlement boundary where trees had been illegally felled (see here). This has been followed up by the environmental journalist, Rob Edwards, who published the…
A couple of weeks ago I drafted an article about the disgraceful state of the Coire na Ciste Car Park. I went up there at the weekend to find it had been cleared up. The appointment of Ross Harris as interim Chief Executive of the new ski area operating company, Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd, would…
I had walked up Glen Prosen a couple of weeks ago to look at the new roads at the head of the Glen but was prompted by the 26 traps we saw to blog first on wildlife and trapping in the Cairngorms National Park (see here). This post will took at the two new roads…
A year after my post on how the signs in Glen Doll at the head of Glen Clova contravened access rights (see here) I revisited the glens. I was pleased to find that two of the three signs I had commented on have been removed. A number of regular visitors to the Glen commented on my…
The Report in the Strathy last week was based on the proposals for winding up the former Cairngorm Mountain Ltd (CML) which the Administrator has lodged at Companies House (see here). This post takes a further look at what it reveals about the mismanagement of Cairngorm Mountain over the last five years. Background note…
I was up in Glen Clova with friends for the weekend and on Saturday, which was wild and very windy, went for a walk up Glen Prosen with Helen Todd who works as campaigns and policy manager for Ramblers Scotland. Our intention was to take a closer look at the restoration of the hydro…
Following my post on the Cairngorms National Park local elections (see here), which will be decided by postal vote on Thursdays 21st March, nominations for people wishing to stand close next week, at 4pm on Wednesday 13th February. Its really important for democracy and for the future of the National Park that local residents have…
Highland and Islands Enterprise’s announcement last week (see here) that the funicular would remain out of action for the summer and possibly longer, failed to explain what has caused the problems or the likely cost of the repairs that might be needed to make it safe to use again. Meantime it has announced that the…
The new draft Cairngorms National Park Local Development Plan 2020 was launched for consultation on 25 January (see here) and we all have until 5 April 2019 to plough through the 228 pages and the myriad of supporting documents and make our comments. This document is the outcome of the Main Issues Report which was…
Adam Watson and the Royal family On 24 Jan I was preparing a presentation (see here) to the planning committee of the Cairngorms National Park. This was in support of objections to a proposed new hill road on the Balavil estate in Badenoch. My preparation involved reference to material on hill tracks and roads published…
On Friday the Cairngorms National Park Planning Committee, which all Board Members sit on, will consider the Balavil Estate’s Planning Application to build 5km of new road into the Monadhliath Wild Land Area (see here for all papers). The December CNPA Planning Committee rightly agreed to defer the application because it had not been advertised properly…
Under Section 14 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 landowners are prohibited from erecting any sign whose main purpose is to deter or prevent people from exercising access rights. Glen Etive, like some parts of our National Parks, is littered with signs that contravene access rights. In the last week I have reported to…
Following my post about the upgrade of the existing hill roads at Balavil (see here) , this post takes a look at the Balavil Estate’s proposal to drive 5km of new road into the heart of the Monadliath Wild Land Area. In December the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee delayed the application to allow…
The Royal Family has, ever since Queen Victoria came to Deeside, played a central role in legitimising hunting culture, practice and consequent land-use across upland Scotland. As long as the way they manage their land at Balmoral and Delnadamph (see here) remains unchallenged, other landowners across Scotland will mimic what they do. That entails maintaining…
Last Friday, the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee agreed to their officers’ recommendation that the deadline for comments on the proposed 5km road over the Monadhliath and through a Wild Land Area should be extended until 10th January. That is very welcome. It rectifies CNPA’s failure to consult properly (see here) and gives people time…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board meeting on 10th December was a complete contrast to the September “stand-up” meeting with its threadbare agenda (see here). This time the agenda was packed (see here) but the meeting was as poorly organised as the last. Time for National Park Board Meetings to be…
Yesterday, Highlands and Islands Enterprise was forced to release the full copy of the Report it had commissioned from SE Group into ski infrastructure at Cairn Gorm. After HIE failed to publish the Report when launching its new vision for Cairn Gorm (see here), several people submitted freedom of information requests. Then, when the information…
Last Friday the Cairngorm National Park Authority Board approved a “presumption against new hill tracks” in its new draft Local Development Plan which is about to be issued for consultation. This was welcome. Just a week later, those same Board Members, who all sit on the Planning Committee, were due to consider a report asking…
Looking back on my long involvement in conflicts on Cairn Gorm what always strikes me is that the main cause has not be tensions between landuses but simple incompetence – particularly by HIDB/HIE. Now Highlands and Islands Enterprise is having to take over a bankrupt company running the facility for the second time and there…
A couple of weeks ago the Cairngorms National Park Authority started to advertise their local member elections which are due to take place on 21st March 2019 (see here). They are trying to encourage more people to stand and to ensure that residents are registered to vote. Both initiatives are very welcome. As part of…
Last weekend there was enough snow for skiing at Cairn Gorm but, with the funicular out of action, there was no way to get to the Ptarmigan Bowl for downhill skiers. A shame because Sunday was a beautiful day. With HIE’s announcement (see here) that the report into the funicular’s problems will not now be…
My post on the dereliction at the former Arrochar torpedo site (see here) received some comments that the Loch Lomond National Park Authority could not be blamed for failing to address an issue if they did not have the power to do so. I agreed, but stated I believed the LLTNPA in those circumstances still…