The Werritty report (see here), which was published a week before Xmas, is not disappointing, as some have claimed, its what everyone should have expected. Both the remit for the review and the membership of the review group were wrong from the outset. The question which the Scottish Government should have asked is not whether…
Tag: restoration
The environmental crisis is Australia has been back in the news because of the record temperatures – an average maximum daytime temperature of 41.9C was recorded this week – and the fires burning out of control. The fire in the Wollemi National Park, which I had wanted to visit 6 weeks ago, has now been…
I was pleased to get this letter on Scottish Power’s plans to cover land around their windfarms with solar panels into the Herald the weekend before last . While our two National Parks may have no windfarms within their boundaries, the broader issue, the impact of renewable energy developments on the carbon held in soils,…
The Planning Application to “smooth and regrade land” to create a new beginner’s ski area at Cairn Gorm will be considered by the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee tomorrow. Officers have recommended the application should be approved. While the revised application does go some way to address issues that have been raised on…
While who gets elected in the General Election may in large part be decided by attitudes to Scottish Independence and Brexit, the wider issues facing the world are the ongoing crisis in the capitalism, the climate emergency and the collapse of the natural environment. Our National Parks are microcosms of that wider world and reflect…
I first came across the newly constructed Gynack flood diversion channel above Kingussie by accident in October 2017, when visiting the three hydro schemes on the river. I have visited three times since, all in poor weather (as is evident from the photos!). On my most recent visit I found that the overflow…
Prior to the serious flood damage to some of the hydro schemes in Glen Falloch (see here), I had been trying to persuade the Convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, James Stuart, that there have been some serious planning failures in respect to hydro schemes in the National Park which his Board…
Following the great rainstorm of 5th August, which swept away part of the West Highland Line, I was expecting to find significant damage to the seven hydro roads in Glen Falloch when I visited at the end of September. In the event found that the damage which the storm caused to the hillsides, in…
Back in February 2018 Parkswatch called for the Cairngorms National Park Authority to start taking enforcement action against the unlawful hill roads in Glen Clova (see here). The CNPA responded to say that in most of the cases it was unable, whatever it thought of the roads, to do so. This was either because…
In my last post on Glen Falloch (see here) I considered the impact that the very heavy rainfall of 5th August had had on the hydro intake pools. I argued that the serious infilling and damage in some cases appears to be a fundamental design flaw which results from schemes being constructed in unsuitable places. …
Ever since the storm which swept away part of the West Highland Line on 5th August I had been wondering what impact this had had on the hydro schemes there. I had been expecting it would have caused significant erosion of the hydro tracks, but never anticipated its impact on the hydro intakes. The extent…
[A version of this post appeared as a letter in the Press and Journal on 14th September in response to a letter from Gordon Benton on 3rd September] A number of people and interests are advocating expansion of the facilities on Cairn Gorm to include a hill station to solve ongoing financial problems. It would…
In theory the Cairngorms Connect project appears to be a good thing. Four organisations are working together across 600 square kilometres of the western Cairngorms to deliver the rewilding of marsh, river, forest and mountain habitats. These organisations, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forest and Land Scotland and Wildland…
In March there was quite a debate on Facebook – 130 comments – about work that had recently been completed on a 1km section of the West Highland Way by Keilator Farm in Glen Falloch just before it reaches Crianlarich (see here). To their credit Gordon Baillie Contracting Ltd have not tried to remove any…
This post takes a further look at the issues (see here) associated with the latest Planning Application (2019/0247/DET) by Highlands and Islands Enterprises/ Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd at Cairn Gorm. The application is to create a beginners ski area over an area of 0.93 ha or 9,300 sq.m. in the lower right-hand half of the picture…
A couple of weeks ago Highlands and Islands Enterprise lodged yet another planning application for Cairn Gorm, this time for the creation of a beginners ski area above the day lodge (see here for planning documents). James Gibb from HIE made no mention of this at the meeting organised by the Aviemore and Community…
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…
With the Funicular currently out of action and its future unknown, the recently published SE Group addendum into uplift a Cairn Gorm (see here) is ostensibly recommending the creation of 8.7 hectares of new ski terrain in Coire Cas as part of their revised plans. This post explains why this figure is wrong and far…
The Snowfactory at the top of the Coire Cas Carpark is 8m tall and stands sentinel to HIE’s bureaucratic mismanagement at Cairn Gorm. A snowfactory trial was undertaken at CairnGorm during the winter of 2017/18. That was a direct response to the Aviemore Business Association exhorting the Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for HIE, Fergus Ewing…
After my visit to the Keltie Water hydro scheme at the beginning of May (see here), I complained to the Convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, James Stuart, about the Park’s continued failure to address the mess left by a development which they had nominated for a Scottish Planning Quality Award. …
When blogging about the unlawful forestry no access signs on the Drummond Estate north of Callander 10 days ago (see here), I did not have time to feature what lay behind them. Nor about how the Keltie Water hydro scheme (see here) looks six months on. The new “forestry” road into Glen Chroin When…
I almost never watch TV but last week, in the middle of the first week of the Extinction Rebellion protest, I did watch the BBC documentary “Climate Change – the Facts” narrated by David Attenborough. The footage of forest fires burning out of control and the evidence that not only have the numbers of fires…
Last week the full Highland Council decided to approve the remaining three Glen Etive hydro schemes (see here). It was clear during the debate that a number of Councillors voted for the proposals because they believed the impacts of construction could be mitigated and the landscape restored to close to its existing state. While that…
“Our landscape is a national asset and we believe that it should be treated with care and respect so that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy it. We encourage the Highland Council to help protect the wild nature of the glen and reverse the decision to approve these three hydro schemes.” (Mountaineering Scotland see…
Here’s a prediction. There will be no rest and no thanks to the Scottish Government for as long as they allow the current mismanagement of the Rest and Be Thankful to continue and they fail to invest money in a long-term solution. That prediction and this post is prompted by the sheep spotted grazing on…