While the move to develop a tourist tax gathers apace in Edinburgh and is now being advocated for other cities (see here for article by Marianne Taylor in Herald) there continues to be silence on this issue from our National Park Authorities. The issue of inadequate investment in tourist infrastructure in the countryside is as…
Tag: LLTNPA
On the 11th October the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority issued a further update (see here) to “stakeholders” to mark the end of the second year of the camping byelaws. This post takes a critical examination of what the LLTNPA is saying, considers what the LLTNPA is failing to tell stakeholders and takes…
Recent news stories (above and here) about community financing of renewables and the benefits which may be derived from them should not be allowed to conceal what is going on across Scotland and in our National Parks. The primary driving force behind the development of renewables is profit for the few and within the overall…
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…
Parkswatch sometimes gets it wrong and has done so in claiming that with hydro schemes in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park that it is the tracks, not the buried pipelines, which are the main issue. That is not the case at the Burn of Mar hydro scheme, situated at the back of Conic…
Cairngorm is a beautiful mountain. It retains that beauty despite Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s record as custodians of the Cairngorm Estate during which landscape and wildlife, and all the people to whom these are important, have been shown scant respect. Despite the unnecessary clutter, rubbish and vehicle tracks the ski areas too retain their beauty…
In January I blogged about the estate management plans the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority has been developing with some landowners (see here) and which I had requested be made public last October. As a result of my appeal to the Information Commissioner, in July the LLTNPA “voluntarily” published some information on Integrated…
I have followed some of the Parkswatch blogs about the awful hydro tracks around Glen Falloch (see here) and seen them for myself from the hills. In July 2017 we were staying in Lochcarron and I was horrified to see a hydro scheme at Coulags at the start of the walk up Maol Chean-dearg. This…
The launch of a campaign last week (see here) by Green MSP Ross Greer to get people to object to the Flamingo Land Planning Application and promoted by Save Loch Lomond (see here) has had a huge response. 26,520 people to date have registered objections on the portal the Greens have set up Whether the Loch…
Parkswatch has commented several times on the differences between our two National Parks and the evidence now suggests that they are going in two different directions, one generally positive the other disastrous. This was very evident from their Board Meetings which took place in September. The agenda of the September Board Meeting of the Loch…
A week ago, two thirds along the forest track between the Ardchullarie and Anie hydro intake (see here), above the eastern shore of Loch Lubnaig, I came across this locked gate. (It was hard to note the exact position after been sandwiched between thick conifer plantations for a time but it was at GR 594115…
West of the Keltie Water hydro scheme, which has been shortleeted for a Scottish Planning quality award (see here), on the other side of the ridge and high ground running south from Beinn Each, are two further run of river hydro schemes. Both are situated in forestry/woodland on the Drumardoch and Ardchullarie Estate above…
Venue – Balmaha Visitor Centre Images from Wikipedia On arrival seating was arranged in an Open Area of the Visitor Centre. Then the seating was removed except for three chairs for members of the public attending the meeting – there were four of us! Apparently it was to be a “Standing Meeting” where only members…
Following my post on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s war on campers (see here). I submitted an FOI request asking for the LLTNPA to explain reasons the Loch Achray campsite had not been opened (it was due to open in March 2018) and to make this public. On 10th September I received…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board will be meeting on Monday in the National Park Visitor Centre at Balmaha (see here) The agenda and papers were published over two weeks ago – a record for the LLTNPA – but a reflection of how little is in them. There is only one item…
On Saturday I was delighted to be one of the speakers at a demonstration against Flamingo Land organised by Save Loch Lomond (see here) and which was covered on STV news (see here). While I believe the decision about whether Flamingo Land goes ahead will ultimately be decided by politics, part of my speech covered planning…
After my post on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority war on campers, which referred to the Park’s failure to open the new campsite at Loch Achray as promised (see here), local rumours are that the campsite has not opened because the water from the borehole is not drinkable. I have asked the…
While Argyll and Bute Council’s decision to raise car parking charges at Arrochar by 800% (see here), has received much media attention, it also transpires that they intend to introduce this level of charges at their car park in Duck Bay, one of the most popular places for visitors on the west shore of Loch…
Proposals for a huge development around the shores of Loch Lomond at Balloch are being considered by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, which is the planning authority within the park boundaries. There are arguments to be had about whether tourist developments bring economic benefit on one hand but the loss of public space…
Hydroelectric power generation features prominently in the firmament of the renewable energy icons of the ‘green movement’ and indeed among its most avid supporters, there is almost a zealous fervency about it, bordering on religiosity about its promulgation, indeed one tantamount to a holy dictum of hydro. There is no doubt, in a political environment…
After the fire in December 2017, in which two people tragically died, Cameron House needs to be rebuilt. There are a number of other associated businesses on the site (234 berth marina, 87 lodges, restaurant, golf course and sea plane flights) that have continued to operate since the fire and need to do so…
After recent criticisms of SNH on Parkswatch, for example their failure to assess properly the impact of all seven Glen Etive hydro schemes on the landscape (see here), it is a pleasure to report on a consultation which could, if the proposals were widely adopted, make a real difference to landscape protection. The consultation is…
As of today, there were 1008 documents on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Planning Portal (see here) associated with the Flamingo Land Planning Application. Most of them appear to be objections but even letters of support express significant concerns. Among local residents, whether objectors or supporters, one major concern is that Balloch…
Saturday was the first time I had been along the “camping management zone” on the west shore of Loch Lomond for a couple of months. Prior to the start of the camping byelaw “season” in March the LLTNPA spent a lot of money erecting “repeater” signs warning campers that they faced fines of up to…
I was out in Balloch yesterday. There was an ambulance and crew parked and waiting just outside the area that has been cordoned off from the public for the European open water swimming championships. The explanation for this appears to have been that competitors for the championships were trying out their courses: I don’t know…