In a recent post on the proposed telecommunications mast at the western end of Loch Mullardoch (see here), I criticised the organisations which have rightly formed a coalition agains the Shared Rural Network programme for not campaigning hard enough to protect Scotland’s finest wild land from descretation. Those organisations – I am a member of…
Tag: planning
On 9th November, two days after Scotgold announced (see here) it had been unable to find a new investor for the Cononish goldmine and it was likely to go into administration, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) informed me their Planning Committee had noted without amendment the “annual report” on the mine….
Work by the Pitmain Estate to rebuild the River Gynack overflow, which had failed soon after it was initially constructed in 2017, appears to have been completed in August. The rationale behind the work and why it had not been re-opened by the time of the floods on Speyside in early October has not been…
I am not sure when I first saw the bright green plastic tree tubes on the left of the A82 heading north from Crianlarich but on Saturday I stopped to have a look. The site is much easier to access than previously as in 2020 the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority granted planning…
Yet another planning application for a telecommunication mast has appeared (see here), this time in the heart of Torridon on land owned by the National Trust for Scotland. This is a National Scenic Area, a Wild Land Area and the walk through from Glen Torridon to Loch Torridon one of the finest in Scotland. One…
After my last post I had conversations with a couple of people about my conclusions that the insitu stitch/ joints are the wrong way up, i.e. instead of the joint being wedge shaped, as in the picture above, it should be more of a pyramid, as in my drawing below. There were a…
A week ago Iain Cameron copied me into his tweet on a track on the Glenure Estate on the eastern side of Ben Sgulaird. He was right, it is monstrous. His tweet has now attracted over 65K views, an indication of the level of interest from people in what is happening to the landscape of…
The UK Government, landowners and telecommunications masts – the landscape and environmental impacts
Who benefits from the telecommunication masts? The spate of new telecommunications masts which, as George Allan from the North East Mountain Trust explained on Monday (see here), threaten some of Scotland’s finest landscapes are intended to eliminate “total not spots”. They form part of the Shared Rural Network programme and are being funded by…
Planning applications are coming in thick and fast for 25 metre communications masts in remote hill country in Scotland as part of the UK Government’s Digital Connectivity Programme – the Shared Rural Network. Some appear to have almost no public benefit and are proposed for Scotland’s finest landscapes. Anyone for near to the Falls…
Shortly after I wrote to Dr Heather Reid, the Convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), questioning her decision that dealing with the potential risks at the Cononish goldmine caused by Scotgold’s financial difficulties was purely an operational matter (see here), a report on the mine appeared among the papers for…
While researching why the funicular was beams were built out of concrete rather than steel (see here), apart from being told that the beams should have been deeper, “tensioning” was mentioned. I didn’t appreciate the importance of what was being talked about at the time but then, after my last post (see here), this comment appeared:-…
This is the most recent official photo from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority showing the state of the Cononish goldmine. Now imagine what might have happened if 8 inches/20cm of rain had fallen on it last weekend as happened elsewhere in the west of Scotland with no workforce available to respond? Six…
Eighty staff laid off Last week Scotgold Resources announced that the “unique package” which the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) had claimed would “deliver multiple benefits for the area” and create jobs (see above) was putting the majority of its employees at the Cononish goldmine in Strath Fillan on short-term unpaid leave…
The Luibeg mast planning application Yesterday the planning application for the proposed telecommunications mast above the Luibeg bridge on the Mar Lodge estate (see here) was temporarily withdrawn by the developer “in light of recent consultation responses received“. The application was rapidly developing into a test case for plans to erect similar masts (with access tracks…
An application (link here) to erect a 20m digital communications mast adjacent to the Luibeg footbridge and the paths to the Lairg Ghru and to Coire Sputan Dearg has been called in by Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) for a decision. Background to the Luibeg application As readers of Patchwatch will know, this area is…
On 28th July the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) lodged a response to the Flamingo Land Planning Application (see here) which could scupper a large part of the proposed development: “The outputs of the FRA [Flood Risk Assessment] (illustrated in Appendix G) [see map above] indicate the majority of Zone B – Riverside and part…
After my last post on ABRDN’s disastrous planting proposals for Far Ralia (see here) I was phoned by Renwick Drysdale of AKRE trees (see here) asking to meet so he could explain to me what they are trying to do. Unfortunately, I am out of Scotland for most of the six weeks but agreed to…
On 23rd June the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority issued a decision to Fountain Forestry UK Ltd that Prior Approval was not needed for “Construction of 800m of new forest track, upgrade of 330m forest track, formation of turning and stacking areas, upgrade of 2no existing bridges and construction of 3no small span…
Yesterday Raptor Persecution UK published an excellent post calling for greater scrutiny of duck shooting on sporting estates (see here). By coincidence I had had my eyes opened to what is going on the week before when passing through the Ralia Estate to check on how Abrdn’s tree planting proposals at Far Ralia (see here). Anyone…
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a person who had parked their car to go for a walk from Sallochy on east Loch Lomond and had been harassed by rangers for doing so. Last week I was sent these photos which show the gates are now being locked in the day to prevent…
The consultation on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP) 2024-29 has been live since 26th April and closes on Wednesday. There have been few responses so far through the online platform “commonplace” (see here) despite the LLTNPA’s attempts to frame the new plan as having a pivotal…
The recreational, environmental and planning disaster in Coire Cas and HIE’s ownership of Cairn Gorm
Some people might at first sight find the new mountain bike tracks running down the lower part of Coire Cas attractive. Certainly Cairngorm Mountain Scotland must have thought so when they posted this aerial photo on their Facebook Page. In landscape terms and from the air the sinuous curves of the tracks certainly look better…
Following my most recent post on the Ralia hill road (see here), I was sent further photos which support my argument that the road upgrade work should have required full planning permission. The Construction Method Statement accompanying the Prior Notification, which was produced by Taiga Upland in conjunction with Kilrie Trees and approved by Highland…
Two parkswatch readers have sent in photos of current construction work along the line Old Military Road on the Ralia Estate near Newtonmore. I am most grateful. Six weeks ago Highland Council planners decided that, apart from a new bridge and section of road on either side of this, all the other track “upgrades” being…
At the beginning of April a planning application (see here) was submitted in the name of Abrdn Property Holdings Ltd to build a “bothy” on Far Ralia, the property bought be the Standard Life Investment and Property Trust before it merged with Aberdeen Asset Management. Abrdn Property Holdings Ltd was registered as a company in…