Tag: CNPA

August 18, 2021 Nick Kempe No comments exist

Following my two posts on BrewDog’s proposals to create a Lost Forest (see here) and (here) at Kinrara,  plans for peat bog restoration on the estate  appeared on Highland Council’s planning portal (see here).  In April the Scottish Government issued new planning guidance on Permitted Development Rights (see here) which required peat bog restoration schemes…

August 9, 2021 Nick Kempe 9 comments

A ding-dong battle On Thursday an organisation called Rewilding Britain issued a news release (see see) highlighting the destructive impact of grouse moor management in national parks in the north of England and the Cairngorms and which urged: “ministers to show real leadership by creating wilder national parks and setting up core rewilding areas in…

July 22, 2021 Nick Kempe 11 comments

Rothiemurchus Estate has been split in two since it sold off the Caledonian Pine Forest in its middle section to Forestry Commission Scotland, as it then was, for £7.2m in 2016  (see here). The upper part, which extends to the head of Glen Einich, is sandwiched between the landholdings which have formed Cairngorms Connect and…

July 21, 2021 Nick Kempe 6 comments

Late last Friday afternoon I went for a walk up Glen Banchor and over Creag Liath, via the track by the Allt Fionndrigh.  The track featured on Parkswatch 18 months ago due to the Glen Banchor and Pitmain estate’s plans to extend it for the purposes of grouse moor management (see here).  All the ground…

July 19, 2021 Nick Kempe 3 comments

Following my post on the failed restoration of the Beauly Denny powerline access tracks (see here), someone asked on twitter “how would you have done this differently”?   The answer lies just over the hill on the southern face of Carn Dearg Mor above Glen Feshie.  There, Wild Land Ltd is in the process of removing…

July 18, 2021 Nick Kempe 7 comments

The contrast between good land management and bad land management on the western side of the Cairngorms National Park and the impact this is having on the climate and environmental crises is quite stark.  I spent the last week on Speyside, collecting evidence about what is happening on the ground while out and about enjoying…

July 13, 2021 Nick Kempe 7 comments

On Sunday evening I went up to take a look at Cairn Gorm, the first time since the repair of the funicular started.  I got a photo of the construction (see here) of the tube slides before the rain started. The steel support structure for the slides, referred to in the planning application, appear to…

May 19, 2021 Nick Kempe 11 comments

The closure of public toilets in Scotland, which had been going on for years, gathered pace under austerity (see here and here for example), with hardly a murmur of political dissent. The Victorians – who knew the value of public conveniences, from both a public health and a tourism perspective – would have been appalled. …

May 8, 2021 Nick Kempe 28 comments

News about yet another unlawful killing of a golden eagle in the Cairngorms National Park (see here for the latest list from Raptor Persecution Scotland), found poisoned on the Invercauld Estate in March, should surprise no-one. The Cairngorm National Park Authority’s stated intention to eliminate raptor persecution (see here) will never work until it tackles…

April 30, 2021 Dave Morris 3 comments

This post examines the need to elect politicians to the next Scottish Parliament who are committed to land reform legislation. It notes the loss of experienced land reformers and the need to replace them with others who have equal enthusiasm for land reform. It provides examples of recent difficulties including serious misunderstandings within VisitScotland of…

March 29, 2021 Nick Kempe 5 comments

The Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authorities (NPAs) were both awarded significant increases in funding in the Scottish Government’s budget (see here), a significant turn-around in fortunes. In September the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) reported a significant hole in their finances, with a projected deficit – after yet…