Tag: visitor management

December 16, 2021 Nick Kempe 10 comments

The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA)’s consultation on their draft National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP) officially closes on Friday, apparently at 5pm.  So far, I have only considered the draft plan from a climate and nature conservation perspective but will continue covering other aspects of the plan after the consultation closes.  Before that, however, I…

October 27, 2021 Alan Brattey 31 comments

The campervan park within the Coire na Ciste car park on Cairn Gorm  (see here) and (here) will close for the season this coming weekend.   Commercial failure or success? Data gathered from observations carried out each evening over two separate 1-week periods provides the evidence that the Ciste campervan park has been avoided by…

September 29, 2021 Nick Kempe 4 comments

The number of people drowning in Loch Lomond has been a major issue for years, with our public authorities being far more concerned about the health and safety standards being applied to competitors in the European Swimming Championships, all by definition great swimmers, than the general public (see here).  But even after the terrible events…

September 19, 2021 Alan Brattey 7 comments

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…

August 27, 2021 Nick Kempe 13 comments

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…

August 15, 2021 Nick Kempe 5 comments

Out of Doors on Radio Scotland yesterday (see here) had a great piece on Network Rail’s attempt to close the “private” level crossing at Dalwhinnie (from 35.30), an attack on people’s ability to exercise their access rights.  This was first covered in the Badenoch and Strathspey Herald two weeks ago (see here) and now become…

May 19, 2021 Nick Kempe 11 comments

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. …

April 9, 2021 Nick Kempe 7 comments

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…

March 29, 2021 Nick Kempe 5 comments

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…

March 5, 2021 Nick Kempe 24 comments

There is a case for using car park charges as an income stream to invest in visitor infrastructure and also to encourage people to visit by public transport, but that is not what is happening in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Instead, our public authorities have embarked on an unprincipled free-for-all extortion racket…