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…
Tag: renewables
Retiring Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board Member and former SNP councillor Fergus Wood was featured in the Stirling Observer last week due to his alleged failure to abide by planning conditions set by the National Park Authority for the hydro scheme at Ledard Farm which he is reported as describing in the…
While the impact of windfarms on landscape make front page news – the latest being the predictable decision by the Courts to uphold the Scottish Government’s decision to give the go-ahead to the Creag Riabhach scheme in Sutherland (see here) – hydro schemes rarely receive any coverage at all. For a long time, most people…
Following my visit to the Ledcharrie Hydro Scheme in Glen Dochart with members of the Munro Society (see here), I made an information request to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority to find out what they were doing to address deficiencies in the development, particularly the damage to the landscape that has been…
Dear Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, What would the poet of these hills, Duncan Ban MacIntyre, who decried the destruction brought by sheep have thought of this? My old OS map shows only the track on the right, the new tracks appear to have been created as part of one of the…
On 7th July, an application for a new hydro scheme on the slopes of Ben More by Crianlarich, one of the highest and best known Munros, was validated on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Planning Portal (see here) (or if the link does not work go to http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/planning/planning-applications/find-an-application/ and search for application Ref 2017/0119/DET or…
The Corriemulzie community hydro scheme http://braemarhydro.org.uk/scheme/, just west of Braemar on the road to Linn of Dee, provides an interesting case of how developments can go badly wrong despite the best intentions of the main players. I first visited this scheme, which became operational last summer, in September 2016 and was horrified by what I…
Glen Clova Hydro Construction Track A week before taking action against the Cluny Estate track (see here) the Cairngorms National Park Authority issued a planning contravention notice against the owners of the Glen Clova estate for failing to remove the temporary hydro construction track behind the hotel. This is another very significant action from…
This post looks at the Conservation and Land Management section of the draft Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP) which is out for consultation until 3rd July (see here). It argues that the Outcomes (above) in the draft NPPP are devoid of meaningful content, considers some the reasons for this and outlines…
While looking at the Ledcharrie Hydro last Tuesday (see Sunday’s post), members of the Munro Society asked me whether I knew of any well-designed and executed hydro schemes in our National Parks which they could refer to comparison purposes. My immediate response was the Loch Gynack schemes at Kingussie. Asked why? The intakes have been…
Over the last couple of years, concerns in the outdoor community about the impact of hydro schemes has increased significantly and on Tuesday I went out with 6 members of the Munro Society http://www.themunrosociety.com/ to share knowledge and views on the ground. The Munro Society’s first objective is “To provide an informed and valued body…
A year after Parkswatch first started to cover the hydro schemes in Glen Falloch and highlighted thefailure of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority to follow its own best practice guidance (see here) that penstock and other materials should wherever possible be in colours that blend into the natural environment, the penstock…
On 6th May, during the very dry spell, I went for another walk over An Caisteal and Ben a Chroin, almost a year to the day after a similar round The Glen Falloch hydro schemes (2) (with several visits in-between). The walk provided yet more evidence of why Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park…
The General Election and National Parks Had this been been published when originally intended it would have been issued to subscribers at about the same time as the general election was announced yesterday! In the world of newspapers, radio and TV I guess the post would have been scrapped. I will persist! However, its…
The Munro Society has started to monitor hydro schemes – a very welcome development – and my thanks to Derek Sime who sent parkswatch a number of photos of the Keltie Water Hydro Scheme, situated between Callander and Stuc a Chroin. While the Keltie Water forms the eastern boundary of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs…
A few weeks ago Jane Meek sent me photos of the Ardchullarie hydro scheme. The Ardchullarie Burn runs parallel to the path popular with hillwalkers that leads into Glen Ample and Ben Vorlich from Loch Lubnaig. I checked the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority planning portal to find out more about this…
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park has been nominated by BBC Countryfile presenter as National Park of the year (see here) There are four other nominees, South Downs, Peak District, Snowdonia and Yorkshire Dales. The LLTNPA was quick to get in on the act, issuing its own press release and then arranging for this…
This is my second post on the Bruar Hydro Scheme (see here) which I visited at the end of August. I am fairly confident that few of the issues identified in this post will have been remedied since my visit but would welcome more up to date photos from anyone who is in the area….
The planning permission granted for the four Glen Falloch hydro schemes in 2010 agreed to some permanent new (short) tracks along the bottom of the glen to the powerhouses, some widening of existing tracks but stipulated that the tracks to the intake dams required for construction purposes were to be temporary. Once work was…
After my last post on the Glen Falloch hydro schemes, which featured the blue penstock by Derrydarroch in the photo above, I asked the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park when this penstock was going to be re-painted. The LLTNPA had approved a plan in February that showed native trees were to be planted…
Since blogging about the bright blue penstock used in the Glen Falloch hydro schemes at the end of June, I have been intending to write more about the quality of the “restoration” works and here will focus on the dams/intakes that collect the water for the four schemes. In discussing the schemes I will…
Following James Fenton’s fine post “Just Say No ” and earlier posts on the destruction in Glen Falloch (see here and here) I wanted to write a bit more about the permanent impact that the construction of these schemes is having on the landscape. This is not just about hydro schemes of course, and issues…
Poorly constructed and often illegal hill tracks have visually blighted many parts of the Highlands over the past decades. Recent changes in legislation have brought some measure of control to these but ongoing vigilance is needed. Although this is a Scotland wide issue, it is highly relevant to the National Parks. Scottish Environment LINK…
Dear LLTNPA, I am afraid by the time you read this, the section of turf in the photo will have long gone – its just too comfortable for cattle to walk on. This is a shame because your Guidance on Renewables recommends the creation of a turf/soil strip along the centre of all new…
I was out last Sunday taking a look at the Glen Falloch hydro schemes which I had not yet visited. In an earlier post I was very critical of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park for setting out no firm rules about what locations might be suitable for hydro schemes https://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2016/05/24/glen-falloch-hydro-schemes-2/ . The…