Last Monday the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Planning Committee approved the Hunter Foundation (THF)’s proposals (see here) and (here) for a “Global Leadership” (and wedding) Centre on the shore of Loch Lomond unanimously. While the meeting was webcast live, unlike other public authorities our National Parks do not make recordings of their…
Tag: Governance
Signs in the countryside form part of the narrative about access and help shape public understanding about what the right to roam in Scotland means. Even if ignored by many, I find it hard to pass signs without taking a photo. Six weeks ago, on spotting a cluster of signs behind a Welcome to the…
Photo courtesy of the Save the Ciste campaign showing the Funicular Viaduct from the washing line tow. Is this what the mountain will look like when work commences? The development of the Business Case to repair of the funicular (see here) was shrouded in secrecy. This post takes a look at what Highland and Islands…
This post takes a further look at the Artworks/landscaping structures that are adjacent to the Coire Cas Carpark on Cairn Gorm. Following my blog post (see here) that showed the dilapidated condition of the walls, I was contacted by two members of the public, both of whom expressed concerns about the safety aspects of the…
In response to recent written Parliamentary questions, Fergus Ewing (Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy) has stated that: – A decision on the repair of the funicular is expected shortly. – The business case will be published shortly. This suggests that there will be no period between publication of the business case and a decision by…
On Monday I was pleased to speak at the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board Meeting on the need for improved visitor infrastructure in the National Park. While I will come back to the case I presented (see here) in a further post, I was only about to do because the LLTNPA has…
Further to yesterday’s critique of Cairngorm Mountain – Towards a Vision and a Masterplan (see here) this post takes a look at the process Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is using to consult the public. The consultation document (see here) is part a series of high level statements and part a wish list of potential developments;…
The Scottish Government will soon be asked to support Highlands and Islands Enterprise by approving the use of the considerable public funds that will be required to facilitate the repair costs. A figure of between £10-15m has been quoted. The public are entitled to expect that government ministers will be in possession of ALL of…
The Cairngorm National Park Authority Board investigation was completed very quickly. The same day this article appeared the CNPA convener, Xander McDade, announced (see here) that the Board’s Risk and Audit Committee had decided that “the potential of a breach of the Code of Conduct should be referred to the Standards Commission”, the body responsible…
A number of developments have taken place since I covered the unlawful felling of trees and the creation of a new entrance to Ben Cruach Lodge at Tarbet, on the western shore of Loch Lomond, in May (see here). Coverage in the Helensburgh Advertiser (see here) appears to confirm that Ben Cruach Lodge is owned…
Audit Scotland’s report into HIE’s management of Cairn Gorm since 2008 was published two weeks ago (see here). The first two parts, on the outsourcing of Cairngorm Mountain Ltd to Natural Retreats and subsequent management of the contract, are a disappointment but not a surprise They completely exonerate HIE. Effectively Audit Scotland’s message is that…
[NB information at end of post updated 15th May] A number of developers across Scotland appear to have taken advantage of the Covid-19 lockdown to undertake work without appropriate permissions. An example of this is at Ben Cruach House, in Tarbet, which appears to be owned by multi-millionaire, David Moulsdale, and which was included in…
Scottish Government changes to planning processes The Scottish Government has been urging all planning authorities, including our National Parks, to maintain their planning system as a top priority. Planning Authorities are being urged to use all of their discretionary powers backed up by the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 to keep the planning system going (see…
This post takes a look at the scope of Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s planning application (see here for papers) to repair the funicular, its proposals for accessing the areas where they say work is required and the impact that this will have on the natural environment. The scope of the Planning Application Graham Garfoot’s post (see…
The village of Nethy Bridge prides itself as being the Forest Village, being almost fully surrounded by woodland and forest, much of which is classified as ancient woodland. Yet developer Castle Glen Properties of Aberdeen has submitted a planning application for planning permission in principle to the Cairngorms National Park Authority for the construction of…
This letter from David Fallows about the need for the Cairngorms National Park Authority to webcast Board Meetings speaks for itself. It’s something I have been calling for for both our National Parks ever since the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority unlawfully held 13 Board Meetings in secret to decide their camping byelaws. …
With half the country in panic mode, I was pleased I took a break from my book and attended the scheduled Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board meeting on Monday (see here). What the tattered remnants of the meeting showed is that this is a Public Authority only interested in itself and its…
I am pleased to publish below, with their permission, the Friends of Loch Lomond and Trossachs’ response to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s Authority draft outdoor recreation plan (see here). It should be required reading for every LLTNPA Board Member before they consider the update report on the draft Outdoor Recreation Plan on Monday (see…
Forest Drive has miraculously re-opened after my post last week (see here) which revealed that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority had only opened 192 out of the 300 plus camping places it had promised to Scottish Ministers for the start of the camping byelaw season. In permit area Q, for example (see…
Just 14 months after Cairngorm Mountain went bust, the company that operated it and got away scot free has gone into administration. That should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Natural Retreats saga in the Highlands. This post takes a look at the latest financial losses attributable to Highland and Islands…
Yesterday saw the start of the new camping byelaw “season” in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. The LLTNPA has kept very quiet about this, there is no news release, but they were taking bookings for 1st March (see here) so they are operating the byelaws again. As I pointed out in December (see…
Sometime between August 2019 and February 2020, the webpage (see here) isn’t dated, the Highlands and Islands Enterprises (HIE) website was updated with the following information on Cairn Gorm under “regional projects”:- No one can disagree with the first two paragraphs (Ed. see above!] although in para.2 the wording should have been “the WINTER economy”,…
Two very interesting articles on Parkswatch by Alistair Bell (see here) and Drennan Watson (see here) go some way towards explaining some of what has gone on and is going on at Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL). Alistair Bell says skiers are partly to blame because nobody really questioned what was happening until the Save…
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…
Preparatory work for the seven hydro schemes which Highland Council approved with conditions last March has now started. There are two separate pieces of work, one to upgrade the powerline in the glen, the other to upgrade the road so that construction traffic can use it without blocking visitors from the glen. Meantime the revised…