This post takes a look at a recent attempt by Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE)/Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL) to defend their new but low standard and barely used campervan facility in Coire na Ciste at Cairn Gorm. [Update: for how HIE/CMSL responded to some of the issues raised in this post (see here)]. …
Tag: Tourism
The National Park Partnership Plan is a five year plan which sets out the overarching framework for what happens in our National Parks, the contribution of the various public authorities involved and priorities for action. The current plan for the Cairngorms runs out in 2022 and the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) is in the…
The Cairngorm National Park Planning Committee saw fit to grant Cairngorm Mountain [Scotland] Ltd (CMSL), Highland and Island Enterprise’s wholly owned subsidiary, permission to set up a Campervan Park in Coire na Ciste on Cairn Gorm. That consent was granted on 21 May 2021. CMSL indicated to the planning committee that they might be able…
When the Scottish Parliament resumes in Edinburgh on Monday, MSPs should go and take a look at the access problem that is visible from their doorstep. The Radical Road below Salisbury Crags has now been closed by Historic and Environment Scotland for almost three years following a rockfall. The prolonged closure raises issues of national…
In April the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service announced that they had decided not to hold a Fatal Accident Inquiry into the Cameron House fire (see here) after “a thorough investigation and criminal prosecution leading to the conviction of two parties”. In truth, the investigation had been limited to the immediate reasons for the fire…
The closure of public toilets in Scotland, which had been going on for years, gathered pace under austerity (see here and here for example), with hardly a murmur of political dissent. The Victorians – who knew the value of public conveniences, from both a public health and a tourism perspective – would have been appalled. …
In the Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd [CMSL] Business Plan that was published on 24 January 2020, the interim CEO wrote the following: Vision: ‘’To become a world class Visitor Destination – Ambitious to succeed’’ On 23 March 2021, CMSL submitted a planning application (see here) to Highland Council for a Campervan Park within the Coire na…
After its Board Meeting, which approved a large increase of expenditure on visitor management (see here), the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority held a pre-season Stakeholder Briefing Session on 26th March to tell people about their plans “to manage visitor pressures when lockdown restrictions begin to ease”. Too late for genuine consultation, it…
Since the involvement of Highlands and Islands Enterprise HIE) with the Cairngorm ski resort and the construction of the funicular railway, the mountain business and its skier/ boarder capacity has gone downhill faster than G.B’s olympic skiers ever did. The folly is continuing with HIE deciding to have the funicular repaired at any cost and,…
The Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authorities (NPAs) were both awarded significant increases in funding in the Scottish Government’s budget (see here), a significant turn-around in fortunes. In September the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) reported a significant hole in their finances, with a projected deficit – after yet…
I was not expecting the Scottish Government to relax the current “rules” on Outdoor Recreation when Nicola Sturgeon made her announcement in the Scottish Parliament last week and I was right. While P 1-3 children will be allowed back to school this week, a welcome move but one which has some risks (there is now…
After my post about the Cairngorm Hotel’s failure to pay the minimum wage to all their staff (see here), the court case this week about the fire at Cameron House provides further evidence that we need to take a far more critical approach to the tourist industry. Elements of it are far from benign and,…
On Xmas Day I took advantage of the relaxation of advice on travelling to head up to Breadalbane for a walk over Maol Ghaordie with my partner. The bog was nicely frozen on the way up, it felt properly wintry on the top and we traversed the hill to descend by the scenic and rarely…
Reforesting Scotland’s excellent Land Revival Study Tour to the Cairngorms in June 2018 – for the site visit to the Anagach community pine wood, see here – was based at the attractive looking Cairngorm Hotel in Aviemore (here). While enjoying a stimulating conversation over dinner the first evening, I doubt whether any of us present…
As usual, the latest edition of Earth Heritage (see here) has some excellent articles about Scotland but I was particularly interested to read “Reflections from a Geoheritage Sabbatical in Scotland: The View from America”: “Scotland was a natural choice for a geoheritage sabbatical for several reasons: spectacular and diverse geology; the importance of Scottish scientists…
On 21 Oct the Herald newspaper published a letter from myself about the need for the Scottish Government to revise the plans for dualling the A9 trunk road, currently under construction, so that new rest and parking areas can be provided. Such areas are the norm in many other European countries. To bring Scotland up…
The Dirty Camping debate in the Scottish Parliament On Wednesday, almost an hour after it was scheduled and after a very long day, MSPs started to debate Murdo Fraser’s motion on Dirty Camping (see here) at 6pm. Although the chamber appeared mostly empty, a number of MSPs contributed online and the debate went on until…
If you did not hear the Call Kaye programmme on 18th August, “Is it time to stop moaning about tourists”, it is highly recommended listening. It is available on iplayer (see here) for another 9 days (from 1 min 20 secs for an hour) and, after all the moaning, mainly featured people who were advocating…
A few weeks ago some friends went in their campervan to Glen Muick, on Deeside, and stopped off overnight in the lower part of the glen. They were woken in the early hours by the sound of passing traffic. They were stunned by the number of visitors, remarking that it was just like the Lake…
Morag and I went up Cairn Gorm Thursday 6th August via Windy Ridge and down the Fiaccaill of Coire Cas, all in glorious weather. We started out just after 10.30 but even so met numerous folk going up on Windy Ridge and, even by that time, others coming down. On the whole route we met,…
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…
In the last ten days I have travelled up and back down the A82 and, as usual, stopped off in a few popular visitor destinations to see how they are being managed. Toilet provision At Tarbet it was good to see that mobile toilets had been provided by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park…
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…
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…