My thanks to a reader who, following my post on the board games at the Loch Lomond and Trosssachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) (see here), alerted me to some further shenanigans which I had missed. Seven out of the eighteen board members of the LLTNPA are nominated by local authorities in the area. After a…
Tag: LLTNPA
Since 2020 there have been a number of peatland restoration projects on the north side of Glenfalloch Estate with more in the pipeline. In the December 2025 there was an interesting article in Scottish Birds, which has also been made available on the Glenfalloch Estate website (see here), about the positive impact this work appears…
At the end of November the Scottish Government advertised (see here) the position of the five ministerially appointed Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) board members who will retire at the end of October 2026. The timetable for appointments is tight: applications close on 5th January, interviews will be completed by 2nd February…
This is my fourth post looking at how the Ethical Standards Commission has investigated the complaint made by Heather Reid about six emails which Sid Perrie, the locally elected member for Balloch, sent between 26 and 28th August 2024. As I explained in my first post (see here): “After the arrangements for the special board…
[NB this post was revised at 15.30 on 15th mainly to clarify/expand on some points] The Caledonian Pinewood remnant at Coille Coire Chuilc (CCC), on the edge of Cononish Glen near Tyndrum, was first protected in 1949 as part of the Ben Lui National Nature Reserve and then designated as a separate Site of…
Under “news” on the Balloch and Haldane Local Place Plan website (see here) it is reported that “over 40 people” came along to share their ideas at the consultation events held on 28th and 29th November. The population of Balloch and Haldane according to Scotland’s last (botched and not to be trusted) census is 5997. …
I had intended to include two more photos in my recent post on Coire Coire Chuilc (see here) to illustrate just how daft some managers who claim to be conservationists are when it comes to managing access. While walking through Coille Coire Chuilc, having ignored the exhortation from the Auchreoch Estate’s ” Pines and Wildlife…
I visited Coille Coire Chuilc (CCC), the second most southerly Caledonian Pinewood in Scotland near Tyndrum and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), on Tuesday. The main purpose of the visit was to look at the state of the pinewood with two other people but also wanted to check whether the unlawful access sign…
“The community-led Local Place Planning process for Balloch, Haldane, and Jamestown is now underway, and we want you to be part of it. This is a chance for local residents, families, and businesses to come together and help shape how our community develops in the years ahead. Your input will cover everything from the spaces…
As I demonstrated in my first post (see here), seven minutes after the locally elected board member for Balloch, Sid Perrie, sent an email to Park Convener, Heather Reid, and Board Members on 26th August 2024 raising serious concerns about the involvement of senior members of staff in the Flamingo Land application, Dr Reid had…
Introduction This is the first in a series of posts which will explain how the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) has tried to silence the locally elected member for Balloch, Sid Perrie, and weaponised the Code of Conduct for board members to do so. This has serious implications not just for democracy…
On Monday 10th November the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) are holding a special board meeting to approve the evidence report for their new Local Development Plan (LDP)for approval by Scottish Ministers. Sid Perrie, the locally elected member for Balloch who is now off sick due to the actions of the Standards…
Update 6th November. At 16.00 hrs today, almost three working days after we sent the letter below, we received a three and a half page letter from the Standards Commission explaining they had informed the Helensburgh Advertiser of the Hearing and this was normal procedure. We have responded to the Executive Director of the Standards…
Background After the Reporter appointed to hear Flamingo Land’s appeal, Mr Buylla, issued his Notice of Intention in May that their proposed development be approved (see here), the only option left to campaigners to stop the development at Balloch under planning law was to ask Scottish Ministers to call in the application and for the Scottish…
On 20th September I wrote about the sign above in a post on Scotland’s free trade in land & its consequences – Coille Coire Chuilc and Auchreoch. I reported the sign that same evening to the Access Team at the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) copying in Ramblers Scotland and the access…
A few weeks ago a reader alerted me that there were new unlawful access signs on the Auchreoch Estate, which changed ownership in January 2025, and that they had seen sheep grazing in the Coille Coire Chuilc. Two land-management failures in one! Unfortunately the reader sent no photos – if you see bad stuff, please…
I really liked the message on this leaflet and the wider message of the ALP Project, which “aimed to safeguard high alpine habitat, one of the last pristine environments in southern Europe” (see here). Having not seen a single plastic tree tube and next to no litter in something like 300km and 25,000m of ascent…
The timing of the Scottish Government’s announcement on Tuesday that Scottish Ministers, i.e Ivan McKee the Minister for Planning, had decided to overturn the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s decision to refuse the proposed fishfarm in Loch Long (see here) could hardly have been worse. It came just two weeks after the Ferret…
Prof Douglas McMillan, a contributor to this blog, sent me this photo taken by a friend of his a week ago, noted that the report of the Deer Working Group highlighted their introduction and spread as a significant problem and asked whether the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority has done anything…
Unacceptable telecommunications masts (29) – the new plan for Scotland from the Shared Rural Network
Ten days ago the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme announced (see here) that they were scaling the £500m UK Government funded programme to erect telecommunications masts in Total Not Spots, areas without 4G mobile phone coverage. Instead of aiming to erect c260 masts across Scotland, many in Wild Land and National Scenic Areas, the SRN are…
Four important letters relating to the Flamingo Land planning application appeared on the Department of Planning and Enforcement Appeals planning portal on 4th July, three of which were retrospective. The letters (see here) include one dated 24th June, sent on behalf of the Minister for Planning, Ivan McKee, officially confirming that Mr David Buylla had been…
In my post on the Scottish Government’s decision to call in the Flamingo Land application for a decision by Scottish Ministers (see here), I highlighted the fact that the Planning Minister, Ivan McKee, had asked for another report from a Reporter at the Department of Planning Enforcement and Appeals (DPEA) without saying who he had asked…
On 27th May Goldcrest Land and Forestry Group misleadingly announced a new property was for sale, “Beinn Bhreac Hill” (see here). In fact Goldcrest had marketed Beinn Bhreac a year ago as Lot 4 in the Royal Scottish Forestry’s Society (RFSF)’s attempt to sell off their “forest for a thousand years” at Cashel (see here)….
The Lake of Menteith, east of Aberfoyle, is one of the many places in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park that it is difficult for the public to access. Its on the Glasgow-Stirling X10A bus route (see here) which offers six buses a day Monday to Friday, a reduced service on Saturday and none…
Political developments over the last week have helped expose the fundamentally undemocratic nature of Scotland’s planning system and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s morally corrupt handling of Flamingo Land’s proposed development at Balloch still further. Last Tuesday, 10th June, the Scottish Government minister responsible for planning, Ivan McKee, issued a very…