Yesterday, I was due to meet a few folk from Aberdeen and go for a walk around the eastern fringes of the Cairngorms National Park. With the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Granite City, that was clearly not sensible and we have re-arranged for a later date. The aborted trip, however, prompted me to take…
Tag: Scottish Government
The Cairngorms National Park Authority may have acted promptly against its vice-convener, Gena Blackett, last week for something she said (see here), but when it comes to meaningful actions on conservation, it is not fit for purpose. This post takes a look at the CNPA’s multiple failures when it comes to protecting wildlife as revealed…
The Cairngorm National Park Authority Board investigation was completed very quickly. The same day this article appeared the CNPA convener, Xander McDade, announced (see here) that the Board’s Risk and Audit Committee had decided that “the potential of a breach of the Code of Conduct should be referred to the Standards Commission”, the body responsible…
No sooner had I complimented Forest and Land Scotland on how they had opened up their car parks in Glen More to campervans (see here) than they did an about turn as a result of events on the weekend that followed (see above). FLS is now trying to close car parks in Glen More to…
This is the first of four posts for Parkswatch Scotland (summarised on the Winter Highland forum) about alternative short term options to fixing the Cairn Gorm funicular. The first post will deal with some of the issues raised in my planning objection to its repair (see here for background). It will be followed by three …
[Update: I had a phone call from Jahama Estates on 5th August to say all three signs referred to in this post and subsequent update have now been removed. I thanked them for this though my view remains the signs should never have been erected] I have just come back from a week in Lochaber,…
It’s a well documented fact that the CairnGorm Mountain Business Strategy which has the Funicular Railway at its centre has been a demonstrable failure. The principle source of income has been the sale of tickets, summer and winter, to use the funicular. The number of passengers carried has never been anywhere near the forecast levels…
On 13th July Highlands and Islands Enterprise announced that Cairngorm Mountain was re-opening today (see here). While the Scottish Government had been advising people they could travel unlimited distances by car since the weekend of 4th July, HIE decided to keep the Coire Cas car park, the most popular access point to the northern side…
The Ciste building is a derelict eyesore and should be removed. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) own the land and building and it is therefore their responsibility to take the necessary action. Complete demolition and landscaping of the ground might seem like the most obvious and easiest answer but it isn’t quite that simple. The…
Audit Scotland’s report into HIE’s management of Cairn Gorm since 2008 was published two weeks ago (see here). The first two parts, on the outsourcing of Cairngorm Mountain Ltd to Natural Retreats and subsequent management of the contract, are a disappointment but not a surprise They completely exonerate HIE. Effectively Audit Scotland’s message is that…
Having argued last week (see here) that the Scottish Government could lift the shutdown of self-catering accommodation and its advice not to travel further than 5 miles, its announcement on Wednesday (see here) that this would now happen on 3rd July was a step in the right direction. Neither restriction has been necessary for weeks…
From an Outdoor Recreation and tourism standpoint, the one good thing about the Scottish Government’s latest announcements about how to manage the on-going risks from Covid-19 is that: “Evidence now shows the risk of outdoor infection is very low if people stay two metres apart”. The “now” is misleading. SAGE, the Scientific Advisory Group for…
My post last week on the Scottish Government’s guidance on travel for Outdoor Recreation .(see here) was re-posted, with my permission, on the UK Climbing and Hillwalking Forums and shared elsewhere. It received lots of comments and a fair amount of abuse. The abuse appears to have been founded on the view that anyone deciding…
The Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown (see here) needs the whole mainland road network open as soon as possible. At present this is unlikely to happen until 15 July when the majority of tourism facilities are expected to re-open. Progress in disease control suggests that a more staged approach is now justified to…
Toilets, or rather the risk of Covid-19 being transmitted in toilets, appear to be a major factor why the Scottish Government’s advice to people has been to stay local (see here): “Because of the high chance of the virus living on hard surfaces, we don’t want people using public toilets or going into someone’s home…
On Saturday, I once again ignored Scottish Government guidance and drove 50 miles south from Glasgow to go walking in the Lowther Hills. I was doing nothing illegal and, unlike on Durisdeer last week (see here) where we saw two people, this time we saw nobody at all. These hills could have had a thousand…
Earlier this week one of parkswatch’s critical readers – a good thing! – posted a link to a BBC news piece (see here) about two hillwalkers who had been charged by the Police with “Culpable and Reckless Conduct” after being rescued on Beinn a Chroin near Crianlarich. Since then, there have been a number of…
When I heard that the First Minister was going to permit golf courses to open last weekend, without also opening up the rest of the countryside at the same time, I thought she had taken leave of her senses. Or had received some extremely bad advice. Surely it was absolutely obvious that this would create…
On Saturday, my partner and I drove 50 miles from Glasgow to go walking in the hills east of Durisdeer, off the A702 south of Abington. The decision to ignore the Scottish Government’s guidance to stay local and to go south was quite deliberate. I knew there would be far fewer people in the countryside…
Yesterday the Scottish Government formally announced its proposals for Phase 1 of its Route Map out of the Covid-19 lockdown. The proposals involve relaxing controls over activities that take place in the outdoors so long as people stay apart: working outdoors, meeting people outdoors and outdoor recreation. While parts of the guidance are excellent and…
The news that the Specialist Leisure Group (see here) and (here), the holding company for Shearings, has gone into administration should be a wake up call about the impact the Covid-19 lockdown is having on the economy of our National Parks and rural areas more generally. 2,500 jobs are likely to be lost, of which…
I read, with mounting disbelief, the Scottish Government’s “route map” out of lockdown (see here). The fundamental human right of freedom of movement has been reduced to something called “getting around”. The advice – we have yet to see whether it can be enshrined in law – is that from next week people may drive…
This story, which appeared in the Guardian last Saturday, appears to have been placed by Police Scotland. It was headed by the quote – cut off in extract above – on the left. The article fails to answer the obvious question, why are the police saying “This is not the time to visit our areas…
I had been fairly pleased with my letter to the Herald until I watched, on Wednesday, the country that beat the virus on Channel 4. Recommended viewing if you have not seen it. South Korea, a country with a population of over 50 million, have not beaten the virus of course, but they are suppressing…
With lockdown in Scotland continuing for a while yet the opportunities for visiting our national parks will be limited for many people. So, as we focus more on local access, it is essential that everyone has a clear understanding of what those opportunities are, from front door and gate. Our “right to roam”, a term…