On Monday, a special meeting of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) is being held to consider and approve a report to Scottish Ministers proposing revisions to the byelaws which govern boating on Loch Lomond (see here for papers and to get a link on the day to watch the meeting, which…
Tag: LLTNPA
On 18th January the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) issued a news release (see here) about improvements to visitor infrastructure that are underway across the National Park. This was then picked up by various media without critical comment. While new investment in visitor infrastructure is welcome, the news release failed to explain…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) strongly welcomed the Drumlean judgement (see here) and issued a news release following Lord Clark’s initial decision in the Gartmore core paths case (see here), the subject of this post. So far, however, they have said nothing about the decision of the Inner Court of Session,…
On 20th December 2022, four and a half years after the Drumlean Case (see here), Lord Carloway and two other of Scotland’s most senior judges issued another judgement in the Court of Session (see here) which described access rights as “the right to roam”: “[1] The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced new rights of…
Generally, Scotland should not be investing in new roads. The world does not appear to have sufficient reserves of minerals to replace fossil fuel powered vehicles with electric ones and we need therefore to replace private car use with public transport. That means fewer vehicles on the roads and little need to expand the vehicle…
On Tuesday Raptor Persecution UK had an excellent guest blog from Bob Berzins about the persecution of raptors in the Peak District National Park (see here). This explained that part of the reason for the National Park Authority’s failure to address this illegal persecution is a lack of transparency and accountability to the public, particularly…
On 10th December 2021, Mrs and Mr Jones – Kirsty Young and her husband – submitted a planning application (see here) to build a luxury lodge on the north shore of Inchconnachan, the island on Loch Lomond they had bought from Luss Estates. The application included proposals to restore native woodland and manage visitors on…
Balloch is a village nested in woodland as the online map (above) from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA’s) Trees and Woodlands Strategy 2019-39 shows (see here). In my view, any plan to improve the “visitor experience”/tourism at Balloch should start from the fine views from the loch shore, the remaining…
James Stuart, the convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), has to step down in February having been on the board for eight years. At the LLTNPA Board Meeting on Monday Heather Reid – the former broadcaster known to many as Heather the Weather – was elected to replace him. That…
The term “access taker” appears to be becoming part of lexicon of those charged with overseeing access rights, including our two National Park Authorities. While messages directed to the public don’t yet use the phrase (see here) – “welcome access taker” has a horrible ring – behind the scenes this is how many access officers…
NatureScot’s consultation on National Parks closes today. In my view the most important section of the online survey (see here) is about the powers and functions of National Parks (questions 13-16). Get this right and there would be no need to resort to “green” finance as the means to address the undoubted problems in our…
Walking back down the road in upper Glen Falloch in September the difference in vegetation between the east and west banks of the River Falloch was striking. On the right of the photo you can see lots of natural regeneration, whereas on the left there is none. The Roy Map 1747-52 (see here) shows the…
After the first three questions in NatureScot consultation on National Parks, which are about whether to turn them into vehicles for “green finance” (see here), the fourth is about the role of local communities (see here). The introductory text to the section claims that our National Parks “provide exemplars of community engagement” but contain no…
The evidence from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) planning portal (see here) shows that local opinion remains firmly against the Flamingo Land Planning Application but is not being properly represented in the planning process. This post takes a look at the issues within the context of the historic failure by public…
As I mentioned in my recent post on greenwashing (see here), James Stuart, the soon to depart convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, was in July appointed by UK Government Ministers to the Lakes District National Park Authority. On the LDNPA website (see here) Board Members are portrayed as “the voice…
What message does this sign, exhorting people “to protect our wildlife, habitat and heritage”, give when it has been screwed into an ancient oak tree? With all sorts of creatures boring holes into oaks four shiny screws may not spell the end for this tree, though it will for the mosses and lichens behind it. …
On Monday, at a special Board Meeting which I am informed last five hours, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) voted 10 to 1 to reject the application to build an enormous fish farm in Loch Long. At last, a decision worthy of a National Park! Having written a post the day…
The Planning Application (see here for planning papers) for a fish farm on Loch Long, along with associated road upgrades, was submitted just over a year ago. It is to be decided at a special meeting of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) Board in Arrochar on Monday after a site visit…
Our two National Park Authorities, along with Scotland’s 32 local authorities, are Access Authorities. Among other statutory duties under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act these are supposed to protect access rights and set up Local Access Forum (LAF)s to advise them about the exercise of those rights. This post looks at how the LLTNPA have…
This post take a further look (see here) at the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s attempt to sell off its Visitor Centre at Luss, in the light of the discussion and decision made at the Board Meeting on 26th September and responses to Freedom of Information Request (FOI)s. I argue that the…
Hidden away among the many comments on Flamingo Land’s Planning Application is a letter from Emma Yendell, Estates Manager with the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) (see here). While comments from other Public Authorities are mostly highlighted as such, this one from the LLTNPA is marked as “correspondence” and easy enough to…
Following my post on the riparian planting in Balquhidder (see here) this photo, taken within ten minutes walk of Inverlochlarig car park, illustrates two key things that are wrong with Scottish forestry practices. It happens to be in Balquhidder and on the Blaircreich Forest Estate, run by the Economic Forestry Group, but in truth could…
Landslips, flooding and riverside tree planting in Balquhidder – tackling the source of the problems
On Sunday I went for a walk in Balquhidder, which I had not visited since a beautiful day just before lockdown in 2020 when people were being advised to stay at home. On that day we came across just one person but we did see from close up the multiple land slips on both sides…
https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE1967 In February (see here) I looked at decision making by Transport Scotland on the A82 Tarbet to Inverarnan and the inaction of the National Park Authority. Their view has been that Transport Scotland is the statutory lead for major road development and that as a statutory consultee their main role is to comment once…
This post takes a further look (see here) at the proposal to sell off the Luss Visitor centre which the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) Board Members will be asked to approve today. (The proposal is due to be discussed between 9.30 and 11 and the discussion can be viewed live –…