Tag: Scottish Government

April 17, 2025 Ben Tindall 10 comments

1st April 2025 Walking home from Holyrood, on a perfect evening, in the clearest air, cool and sunny, I decided to take the scenic route. The north end is still barricaded off with ugly green Cold War barriers, chestnut paling fencing and random signage, all within sight of Parliament.  This reminds MSPs how the ‘Right…

March 27, 2025 Nick Kempe 5 comments

In November David Craig explained how advances in smart phone technology meant that any masts erected under the UK Government’s Shared Rural Network programme  to eliminate Total Not Spots would soon become obsolete (see here).  On 25th March Ofcom issued a set of proposals for consultation which would remove the regulatory block to that happening…

March 24, 2025 Nick Kempe 9 comments

On 19th March the Herald revealed (see here) that Scottish Forestry, having suspended grant payments to BrewDog after it was revealed many of the trees in the Lost Forest had died, has now paid them £1.2m and agreed to pay a further £1.5m for the project.  This post takes another look at the scandal in the…

February 28, 2025 Nick Kempe 1 comment

Yesterday with almost no notice the funicular at last re-opened. Highlands and Islands Enterprise, in a news release issued on Wednesday (see here) claimed that “all safety-critical matters have now been concluded” – not exactly the same thing as stating all the safety concerns that caused them to close the funicular in August 2023 have been…

February 24, 2025 Nick Kempe 2 comments

Last week the Scottish Government published the fourth piece of legislation this Parliament ostensibly  intended to improve how we use and manage land in the countryside, including National Parks – the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill (see here for papers)   This follows the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, passed a year ago and…

February 21, 2025 Nick Kempe 7 comments

With little sign of the Scottish Government implementing the provisions of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 and while the Cairngorms were aflame from muirburn (see here), the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) Board on 14th February approved new fire management byelaws and a draft “Integrated Wildfire Management Plan” for consultation with land…

February 17, 2025 Nick Kempe 19 comments

Driving north up the A9 on Saturday Andy Cloquet observed muirburn on five sites between Dalwhinnie and Newtonmore with “an acrid smell over five miles of road” and sent parkswatch these two photos. The ostensible purpose of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 (“the Act”), which was passed by the Scottish Government last…

February 1, 2025 Nick Kempe 4 comments

At the end of August I  wrote about the proposal to install a telecommunications in Glen Undalain, the glen which runs south from the campsite at Shiel Bridge towards the Saddle and is part of the Kintail National Scenic Area (NSA). While few people know about NSAs, the designation intended to protect Scotland’s most beautiful…

January 29, 2025 Nick Kempe 5 comments

On 20th December, just before the statutory deadline expired, Flamingo Land lodged an appeal with the Scottish Government against the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA)’s decision to refuse their proposed development at Balloch. On the same day Scottish Enterprise (SE) announced they were extending their “Exclusivity Agreement” with Flamingo Land  to enable…

December 17, 2024 Nick Kempe 12 comments

On 19th December 2023 the Scottish Government announced that Scottish Forestry’s grant budget would be cut by £32m or 41% for the year 2024/25.  Almost a year later the Scottish Government, in its budget for 2025/26 announced ion 4th December, is proposing to increase spending on forestry grants next year from £45,367,000 to £53,000,000 a…

December 4, 2024 Nick Kempe 5 comments

In January 2020 the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) announced (see here) it had secured £135k in funding from Visit Scotland’s Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund to modernise the toilet facilities and install smart bins at its Visitor Centre in Balmaha: “We know that the provision of things like high quality toilets and…

November 15, 2024 Nick Kempe 3 comments

It is now five months since my post questioning how abrdn, Akre and the Natural History Museum  (NHM) had applied the Biodiversity Intactness Index to the land at Far Ralia in an attempt to demonstrate that the careless and destructive tree planting there would result in an almost miraculous improvement in nature (see here and…

November 9, 2024 Nick Kempe 5 comments

After putting Far Ralia on the market for £12m in July (see here)at the end of September Abrdn’s Property Income Trust  (APIT) announced  it had reached a deal to sell all the remaining propterties  it owned to GoldenTree Asset Management (see here). This post consider the implications. Far Ralia and the sale of Abrdn Property…

November 7, 2024 Nick Kempe 2 comments

On 21st October the Scottish Goverment upheld WHP Telecom’s appeal  against Highland Council’s refusal of planning permission for the proposed O2 phone mast on Creag Dhubh (see here). The Reporter’s decision (see here) has potentially serious implications for the number of “competing” telecommunications mast in rural areas and for the landscape.   Background Under the…