It is just over a year since I explained how the Cairngorms National Park Authority has ignored the role of deer fencing in the decline of capercaillie (see here). While the causes of capercaillie and black grouse decline are complex – they include loss of habitat and climate change – the one thing that has…
Tag: CNPA
On 18th December two pairs of beavers were released on Speyside, one on the Rothiemurchus Estate and one on land belonging to Wildland Ltd (see here). This followed NatureScot’s identification of Speyside as one of the priority areas for translocation of beavers from the Tay and the decision of the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA)…
Following Storm Barbet (see here) Brechin and other settlements located by rivers which flow south and east out of the Cairngorms have TV once again been affected by flooding. People from Brechin whose property has been wrecked have been moved into hotels and describe what they have been through in the last three months as…
The Scottish Government’s consultation on Tackling the Nature Emergency (see here) closed on Thursday. It is yet another consultation that will have consumed vast amounts of time and energy but is unlikely to change much. This post considers some of the key reasons why the Scottish Government’s proposals for nature restoration won’t work. A second…
Work by the Pitmain Estate to rebuild the River Gynack overflow, which had failed soon after it was initially constructed in 2017, appears to have been completed in August. The rationale behind the work and why it had not been re-opened by the time of the floods on Speyside in early October has not been…
At the start of October, almost a year after they bought the Glen Prosen Estate for £17,555,000, , Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) launched an initial consultation of what to do with the land and buildings under the banner of developing an Angus Glens Land Management Plan (see here). When I last wrote about Glen…
The recent report from Cairngorms Connect (see here), which explained the last 30 years experience of rewilding on the western slopes of the Cairngorms massif, was covered in the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald (“Fences are “no answer in Forests””) and attracted two letters in responses from Basil Dunlop and myself – see below. The information…
The Luibeg mast planning application Yesterday the planning application for the proposed telecommunications mast above the Luibeg bridge on the Mar Lodge estate (see here) was temporarily withdrawn by the developer “in light of recent consultation responses received“. The application was rapidly developing into a test case for plans to erect similar masts (with access tracks…
Along with Andy Wightman and Nick Kempe (see here) I recently spoke at the event on the Scotland/England border to highlight the campaign to extend public access rights England. The text of my contribution, which I hope has relevance to national parks and other land and water in the UK, is found below. It is worth…
An application (link here) to erect a 20m digital communications mast adjacent to the Luibeg footbridge and the paths to the Lairg Ghru and to Coire Sputan Dearg has been called in by Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) for a decision. Background to the Luibeg application As readers of Patchwatch will know, this area is…
Scotland National Parks and the Scottish Government If you want to understand why Scotland’s National Parks have achieved so little in the 20 years since they were created, you need look no further than successive Scottish Governments, both the Ministers responsible and the civil servants that have supported them. Instead of encouraging and empowering our…
A month ago the Scottish Government advertised the position on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) Board vacated by the former Convener, James Stuart, at the end of January. No hurry there! The deadline for applications was Monday and the advert has since been removed from the public appointments website but the…
Scottish Forestry has revealed in correspondence that it has awarded £2,559,303.91 (£200k more than I had thought) to Abrdn for tree planting at Far Ralia. It also sent a copy of the approved plan (above) which appears the same as that issued for consultation. Scottish Forestry has therefore approved the plans submitted on behalf of…
After my last post on ABRDN’s disastrous planting proposals for Far Ralia (see here) I was phoned by Renwick Drysdale of AKRE trees (see here) asking to meet so he could explain to me what they are trying to do. Unfortunately, I am out of Scotland for most of the six weeks but agreed to…
On 23rd June the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority issued a decision to Fountain Forestry UK Ltd that Prior Approval was not needed for “Construction of 800m of new forest track, upgrade of 330m forest track, formation of turning and stacking areas, upgrade of 2no existing bridges and construction of 3no small span…
Yesterday Raptor Persecution UK published an excellent post calling for greater scrutiny of duck shooting on sporting estates (see here). By coincidence I had had my eyes opened to what is going on the week before when passing through the Ralia Estate to check on how Abrdn’s tree planting proposals at Far Ralia (see here). Anyone…
Two years Abrdn Property Income Trust (formerly the Standard Life Property and Income Trust) bought 1400 hectares of land from the Ralia and Drumochter Estate with the stated intention of using the land to offset carbon emissions by planting trees. Abrdn were advised on the purchase and the “habitat restoration project” (see here) by Fenwick…
The owner of Akre trees, who has family connections with the Ralia Estate (see here), not only claims to have advised Abrdn on their purchase of “Far Ralia” but to be behind the native woodland project for the estate (see here). Akre also appears lined up to carry out the planting should Scottish Forestry give…
The recreational, environmental and planning disaster in Coire Cas and HIE’s ownership of Cairn Gorm
Some people might at first sight find the new mountain bike tracks running down the lower part of Coire Cas attractive. Certainly Cairngorm Mountain Scotland must have thought so when they posted this aerial photo on their Facebook Page. In landscape terms and from the air the sinuous curves of the tracks certainly look better…
Following my most recent post on the Ralia hill road (see here), I was sent further photos which support my argument that the road upgrade work should have required full planning permission. The Construction Method Statement accompanying the Prior Notification, which was produced by Taiga Upland in conjunction with Kilrie Trees and approved by Highland…
On 30th June the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) issued a news release (see here) stating that Sandy Bremner and Eleanor Mackintosh had been elected as new Convener and vice-Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority on 28th June. The elections were to replace Xander McDade, who had announced earlier in the year that he…
Background The successful re-introduction of beavers to Scotland owes very little to our public authorities and everything to the people who, whether accidentally or not, allowed beavers to enter the catchment of te River Tay. While the official trial in Knapdale floundered – the river system was too small and the catchment isolated so the…
In a recent letter to the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald (29 June, see below) I suggested ways that the management of the land around Loch Morlich and nearby areas in Glenmore Forest Park could be improved to meet public concern over environmental degradation. Such improvement is likely to be far more important than the potential…
Two parkswatch readers have sent in photos of current construction work along the line Old Military Road on the Ralia Estate near Newtonmore. I am most grateful. Six weeks ago Highland Council planners decided that, apart from a new bridge and section of road on either side of this, all the other track “upgrades” being…
A significant row has developed in Glenmore, the most popular place for visitors in the Cairngorms, and various interests are now trying to stampede the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) into initiating measures to ban camping there. This post argues that primary responsibility for the problems in Glenmore lie with Forest and Land Scotland and…