I was pleased to have this letter published in the Herald last week following a post last year asking why grazing had been allowed to continue on the slopes (see here). The proposed Woodland creation scheme for the Rest and Be Thankful 2019-29 on the slopes of Beinn Luibhean is still open for consultation (see…
Tag: Local communities
The Scottish Government claims to be doing lots to empower local communities in Scotland (see here) but the reality is rather different. For every community that has managed to acquire land to great public fanfare, there are a hundred that have been trampled over by the planning system. Power in Scotland is arguably as centralised…
Residents of Portincaple have produced an excellent short video (see here) for their campaign launch on Monday explaining the development which threatens their local community and why they are opposed to it. The Hovering Scotsman has also supported them by providing another video showing the wonderful landscape of Loch Long along with the aims of…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority held its quarterly Board meeting last Thursday (see here) in Kinlochard Village Hall, in Strathard. Almost everything about the meeting, from the location to the agenda items to the discussion, illustrated complacency about the declaration of a climate emergency by the Scottish Government six months ago. …
On my way north on Saturday I noticed that Ewich Forest, which is currently owned by Forest and Land Scotland, has been put up for sale. Ewich Forest is the block of conifer forest which extends from Crianlarich north along the west side of the A82. The West Highland Way traverses the forest from Crianlarich…
Last Thursday Moulsdale Properties Ltd held a pre-planning application consultation event on its proposals to create a large new development in the village of Tarbet (see here). I went along to the Three Villages community hall in Arrochar to have a look at their proposals and hear more. This post takes a critical look at…
The successful challenge to Argyll and Bute’s car parking charges on Mull Back in April the local community in Mull and Iona protested against the imposition of new £9 a day car parking charges by Argyll and Bute Council at Fionnphort (see here). Last week they forced the Council to back down, in part it…
In the run up to the National Park’s hearing on their Planning Application on Tuesday 24th September, Flamingo Land appear to have decided to go onto the offensive. Besides their attempt to discredit West Dunbartonshire Councillors objection to the application (see here) and (here), which I will consider further below, they have been feeding more…
The arrangements for taking the planning decision On 29th July the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority issued a brief news statement setting a date for their Board visit to the West Riverside site (Monday 24th September) and for the Board Hearing and meeting which will decide the Flamingo Land Planning Application (Tuesday 25th…
I have been thinking and discussing with various contacts the claim by James Stuart, convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, that it conducts a risk based approach to planning enforcement (see here). The evidence from the Donich Water hydro scheme, situated above Lochgoilhead, which I visited earlier this year, suggests the…
[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…
It has now been 9 months since the Funicular Railway was taken out of service but whether or not it will be repaired remains unknown. The focus though of Highlands and Islands Enterprise is entirely on whether or not it can be repaired. The HIE website has this: ‘’HIE has consistently stated that its preferred…
Following my two posts on the proposed Mountain Coaster (see here) and (here) , I will take a look at the financial and environmental aspects of the proposed new uplift at Cairngorm as outlined in the SE Group report of November 2018 (see here). I will use the same kind of format as the Mountain Coaster…
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…
“A mountain coaster is a massive source of income but has to be implemented by the community”. This was part of a Facebook post on Sunday 23/06/2019, the claim being that the business plan proposed by the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust (A&GCT) and the SE Group showed a good profit could be made from…
On Monday the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority re-advertised (see here) the Flamingo Land Planning Application and announced a new statutory 28 period for the public to respond. The reason for this is that Ian Cowan, the consultant commissioned by Ross Greer and the Greens whose work has been financed by a crowdfunding…
Highlands and Islands Enterprise, as owners and custodians of the Cairn Gorm Estate, have full responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the public assets that lie within the estate. In an article published in the Press and Journal on Thursday 16 May 2019 headed “Cairngorm funicular report held up over potential legal action” (see…
Yesterday, Flamingo Land’s media consultants issued a New release on their revised Planning Application at Balloch. This received widespread media coverage and appeared designed to deceive. Most of the media did not fall for the attempt to rename the proposed development Lomond Banks and continued to refer to it as Flamingo Land. No-one, however, questioned…
After announcing a “major application” update last week (see here), the revisions to the Flamingo Land planning application appeared yesterday evening. There are about 40 new documents on the planning portal (see here), all dated 5th April rather than the 17th April when they were made public by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National…
Following my post on 28/2/2019 about the ADAC Structure and COWI reports on the funicular (see here), this post shows how Highlands and Islands Enterprise are deliberately trying to cover up and hide information about what has gone wrong with the Funicular on Cairngorm. I sent an FOI request on 03/10/2018 for two other reports…
At the end of November, I took a critical look at the Balloch Charrette, the community planning event that took place in 2016 (see here) AFTER the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority had already committed to Flamingo Land going ahead. Out of the event came an Action Plan (see here) complete with lead partners…
Scotland’s Forest Strategy 2019-29 launched 10 days ago contains not a single reference to National Parks. There is just one reference to Caledonian Forest and that is within a paragraph which describes the range of woodland in Scotland. Nothing is said about the place of the Caledonian Forest in expanding forest cover across Scotland despite…
The Report in the Strathy last week was based on the proposals for winding up the former Cairngorm Mountain Ltd (CML) which the Administrator has lodged at Companies House (see here). This post takes a further look at what it reveals about the mismanagement of Cairngorm Mountain over the last five years. Background note…
Last week I was contacted out the blue by the press to comment on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s new £40k a year Litter Manager. The Herald gave this extensive coverage (see here) – and even referred to my views in their Leader calling on the Park to take tougher action. …
Highland and Islands Enterprise’s announcement last week (see here) that the funicular would remain out of action for the summer and possibly longer, failed to explain what has caused the problems or the likely cost of the repairs that might be needed to make it safe to use again. Meantime it has announced that the…