With the Funicular currently out of action and its future unknown, the recently published SE Group addendum into uplift a Cairn Gorm (see here) is ostensibly recommending the creation of 8.7 hectares of new ski terrain in Coire Cas as part of their revised plans. This post explains why this figure is wrong and far…
Tag: conservation
[Parkswatch is delighted to host this guest blog by Dr Tom Scanlon who has been researching litter in the Clyde Estuary www.mts-cfd.com] Let’s talk rubbish. An estimated 62,000 items of plastic marine litter make their way on to the coastline around Arrochar each year [1]. Among the questions I asked myself included; how do…
This is a picture of the Fiacaill ridge in Coire Cas which is being proposed as the new site for the Mountain Coaster, an idea which is, I am reliably informed, already attracting a lot of interest, and not in a positive way. The second photo is a close up of the same area showing…
[Update 5/7/19: following publication of this post HIE’s subsidiary Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd appear to have backtracked, having announced the ATV experience will be limited to the road up the Ptarmigan and is unlikely to take place more than once a month (see here). That appears a tacit admission that their original proposal was contrary…
On Monday the Green MSP, Alison Johnstone, launched a public consultation on a Members Bill to introduce a ban on fox hunting and further restrict the killing of mountain and brown hares (see here). The Bill is partly in response to the failure of the Scottish Government to respond adequately to Lord Bonomy’s report into…
After the criticisms in my last post about the way the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority is being managed (see here), its good to be able to report that the Park’s management have got something right. At today’s Planning Committeethey are recommending that the Planning Application from the Wards Estate for a function…
Last week (see here) I argued that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s Trees and Woodlands Strategy is not a strategy at all because it contains no plans for how it intends to achieve its proposed vision and objectives. In effect its simply a vision with some guidance for landowners, including Scottish Ministers who,…
The consultation (see here) on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s draft woodland and trees strategy, which is intended to set the strategic direction for forestry in the National Park for the next 20 years, closes on Monday. At the LLTNPA Board Meeting in March, which agreed the consultation, it was revealed that the Strategy…
The Garabal Estate, which consists of a broad strip of land running south west from Inverarnan at the head of Loch Lomond is up for sale (see here for brochure). The asking price is c£652 an acre. This post takes a look at the issues this raises for the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National…
I almost never watch TV but last week, in the middle of the first week of the Extinction Rebellion protest, I did watch the BBC documentary “Climate Change – the Facts” narrated by David Attenborough. The footage of forest fires burning out of control and the evidence that not only have the numbers of fires…
Every time I travelled along the A82 last year I spotted people camping in breach of the camping byelaws in the tent free zone the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority has created between Inveruglas and the Falls of Falloch. The northern part of this was not included originally within the Loch Lomond West…
The Cairngorms National Park Authority‘s news release On 2 April the Cairngorms National Park Authority issued a news release under the heading “Protect wildlife – dogs on leads please” here. This news release should set alarm bells ringing amongst all who cherish our statutory rights of access to land. Although much of the news release…
Apologies for the belated blog on the last Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Board Meeting (see here for papers) which took place on Monday 18th March – and, no, this isn’t an April Fool! As predicted (see here) the agenda was far too long and by 1.30pm, when I had to leave and the…
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…
The papers for the next Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board meeting on Monday 18th March were published last week (see here). There are some good things in them, particularly the papers on “Wild Park” and a new Forest Strategy (see here), which I will consider further in due course. There are also…
Following the parkswatch post on the illegal felling of trees at Carrbridge, in the Cairngorms National Park (see here), here is an example of a felling application of trees with Tree Preservation Orders (TPO’s) The following are extracts for TPOs from LL&TNPA’s weekly planning list: The second extract is the Decision:- I note that 29…
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 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…
A classic way to get developments through the planning system under the radar is to advertise them just before Xmas. The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority did just that on Friday when it issued a letter (see here) to people who had objected to the Ben More hydro scheme stating that the planning…
There have been many objections to the Flamingo Land Planning Application but very little consideration given to how it fits with the policies set out in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Local Development Plan (LDP). While politics are often a more important factor than plans in determining planning applications, the LDP is…
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…
The purchase of the Kinrara Estate by Wild Land Ltd, which is owned by Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen, received wide media coverage including from papers who like to treat such matters as part of our celebrity culture (see here). It raises some dilemmas for people who believe that fundamental land reform is needed to address…
Back in August, I noted from the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Authority weekly planning list the following planning application from Luss Estates Ref 2018/0166/DET (see here): Proposal Change of use of former slate quays to allow a) the unloading of felled timber (Storage and Distribution Class 6), b) occasional use for…
Eighteen months ago I blogged about the Keltie Water hydro scheme north of Callander based on photos supplied by Derek Sime from the Munro Society (see here) concluding that it was one of the better hydro schemes I had seen in the National Park. I found out last week that it has now been shortlisted…