Last year parkswatch covered Fergus Ewing’s intervention on behalf of the owner of the Carrbridge Hotel, Mr Watt, to create a new car park in an area outside the village settlement boundary where trees had been illegally felled (see here). This has been followed up by the environmental journalist, Rob Edwards, who published the…
Tag: natural environment
Its now almost a year since the Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham visited the head of Loch Long at the invitation of local MSP Jackie Baillie and local residents (see here) to see the litter problem. The local community has been organising clear-ups for years but the sheer volume of rubbish swept up by the sea was…
There have been many objections to the Flamingo Land Planning Application but very little consideration given to how it fits with the policies set out in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Local Development Plan (LDP). While politics are often a more important factor than plans in determining planning applications, the LDP is…
Four more hydro schemes are being proposed in one of the most special parts of Scotland which, if it were anywhere else in the world, be a National Park. Unlike the proposed schemes in Glen Etive (see here), which I hope to post more on soon, these schemes have so far received little attention…
[Editor’s note: my apologies to James and readers, I had intended to appear publish James’ objection to the Flamingo Land proposal at the end of June. It makes a forceful case for nature] My objection to the Flamingo Land planning application was as follows. To the east, the Site Boundary is on the River…
Descending from the Brazato pass, after a long and wild walk up the Valle del Ara (see here), Banos de Panticosa came as a surprise. While in a brilliant location, nestled under a chain of 3000m peaks, it provides an example of how not to do developments, whether in National Parks (its right on the…
Between 18th and 21st September the Cairngorms National Park Authority are hosting the Europarc conference (see here) for “protected area professionals” . The theme of this year’s conference is “reconnecting young people with nature”. All attendees are being encouraged to bring a young person as part of the International Year of Young People and my…
Looks like many other SUDS schemes ….but why would they not want photographs taken? Read on……………… This SUDS scheme looks like many others, but could it really become a national icon and the ‘go to’ place for water technology as claimed by the British organiser of an Icelandic delegation visiting to the Cairngorms National Park? …
I have been in the Haute Maurienne, in the Vanoise National Park, the last week on a two week ski touring trip. There has been a lot of snow, far more than recent winters (see here), and what is left is still impressive. Unfortunately, from the ski touring point of view, our arrival coincided…
In the Battle for Scotland’s Countryside last week (see here), David Hayman presented a brief history of the struggle for access rights leading up to our access legislation and then looked at three subsequent access disputes. On first viewing, I was a bit disappointed with how these were covered: the film of David Hayman entering…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park’s new camping byelaw “season” started last Thursday, unnoticed in the midst of the chaos created by the “beast from the east”. It was announced in a wonderful piece of parkspeak, “National Park prepares to welcome campers as byelaws come back into effect” (see here). A strange welcome you…
The consultation on the Cairngorms Main Issues Report (see here), the discussion document which precedes the new development plan, closes this Friday. The Scottish Government has mooted in the Planning Bill the abolition of such reports with Planning Authorities moving direct the draft plan stage in the name of efficiency. To their credit, the Cairngorms…
Objection to Planning Application 2017/0254/MIN Development of a Gold Mine, Glen Cononish, Tyndrum [Editor’s note: Bill Stephens submitted this objection to the current Cononish gold mine planning application on 5th December. While the documentation on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park planning portal (see here) has been added to since then, Bill’s objection contains…
One of the main arguments for National Parks in Britain and Northern Ireland has always been that planning has a key role in conservation, whether of the historical or natural heritage, and visitor management and that a dedicated National Park Authority will do this better than Local Authorities. Three matters which have been covered by…
Ref: NOV302727 Notice Type: 02 Contract Notice Title: Review of Cairngorm Ski Area Uplift Infrastructure Published: 30/11/2017 Published by: Highlands and Islands Enterprise Deadline: 10/01/2018 Full Text: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV302727 (Notice issued by Scotland Contracts Portal) On Friday 30th November, following the public row about their removal of old ski infrastructure from Coire na Ciste which forced…
Following my post about how the planning documentation for the Ledard farm campsite has been altered (see here), I have been trying to obtain final confirmation from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority of the status of the new track being used to construct the Hydro Scheme (see here). On 28th September a…
After the extensive coverage parkswatch gave to the destruction caused by engineering works in Coire Cas last year (see here for example), at the end of August a small group of us went to have a look at how the restoration work was going. In my view while there have been some improvements, there is…
Large developments are, I believe, fundamentally incompatible with the whole concept of National Parks, wherever they are located across the world. National Parks are places where the natural environment should come first, not second. That’s why I, like many people, object to the An Camas Mor development in principle. We should not be building…
At the beginning of April, Flamingo Land (see here for most recent post and links) asked the Loch Lomond and National Park Authority whether an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) would be needed for its proposed development at Balloch (see here) The response of the LLTNPA on 13th April (see here) was that a full EIA…
By Nick Halls In my last post (see here) on the torpedo station, I stated that the gates blocking the old main road were both locked, thereby preventing vehicles entering the area. Recently, the southern of the two gates has been burst open and badly damaged. It was ajar for a period and it…
Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s news release on 12th April (see here) on its latest plans for Cairn Gorm – or “CairnGorm Mountain” in marketing speak – was widely taken up by the press. HIE must be delighted there was so little critical coverage but their announcement raises a number of serious questions. The truth…
By Nick Halls Following the post about the planning blight at the site of the former torpedo factory and range on Loch Long (see here), I went to take a look for myself. I wanted to take a look at the impact of the gates that have blocked off the old road and check if…
Back in November I submitted an FOI request to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority intended to enforce the proposed camping byelaws: “all information relating to any intention to prosecute whether internal, discussions or communications with the police, procurator fiscal, Forestry commissioner anyone else who might be involved in enforcing the byelaws.”…
The Officers Report for the Cairngorms National Park Planning Authority meeting on Friday which will consider the hill track at Cairngorm is as interesting for what it leaves out as for what it includes. This is over and above the policy omissions and enforcement failures considered in yesterday’s post. On the positive side, there…
A month ago I received a response from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority about their involvement in the west Riverside side and Flamingo Land. In their letter eir-2016-051-responseb the Park have tried to defend their integrity as a planning authority and their ability to make an independent judgement on the Flamingo Land…