Cairngorm Funicular Update

By John F Donohoe

Recent Events

With the Funicular being constructed over the past months, it has been receiving a higher profile in the newspapers and on TV. The Scottish Daily Express ran articles last November, investigating the environmental damage and financial viability. They reported a 'boycott' of Aviemore businesses in protest at the Funicular, a story originating from a letter to The Angry Corrie. The article stated clearly that MCofS had no part in this. After the tragic funicular fire at Kaprun in Austria, the Express then investigated its safety. BBC Weekend Watchdog programme on January 19th also investigated possible environmental damage, poor value for public money and its prospects of economic success.

The Badenoch and Strathspey Herald followed up the boycott story, widely quoting MCofS but misrepresented our position, claiming we supported it, when it was made perfectly clear to the paper that MCofS never called for a boycott, and does not support a boycott.

MCofS's position on the Funicular is well known and is based upon our concern to protect the mountain environment and encourage appropriate and sustainable development in the long-term interests of visitors, residents and local enterprise alike. We fully recognise the importance of all outdoor activities to the economic well being of the people of Strathspey and other areas around the Cairngorms. The MCofS is closely involved in mountaineering activities in the area and our programmes attract significant numbers of people to it. Rather than jeopardise local businesses we help sustain them.

We supported alternative proposals for redeveloping skiing facilities in a way that was less damaging and would have offered better benefit to the local economy, an outcome that we unhesitatingly desire.

Over Christmas, the Environment Minister, Sam Galbraith featured in a Radio Scotland interview and stated very clearly that if the funicular fails it will have to be removed. This legal planning requirement is significant, and although the funicular has passed normal planning requirements it has not come under the most rigorous planning procedure, that of a public inquiry.

Finally, the Chairlift Company have changed their name to The Cairngorm Mountain Company.

A New Visitor Management Plan Agreed

The latest version of the Visitor Management Plan (VMP) was published in December and agreed by SNH. The MCofS campaign to have the discriminatory clauses about car parking removed from the VMP has, for the time, paid off. There are no current plans to charge for use of the Coire Cas car park, to make the Coire Cas road into a Clearway or to close off the Sugar Bowl car park. It must, however, be noted that these options remain as "reserved powers", so they could be introduced at some point in the future.

The MCofS Executive discussed the "closed system" of the funicular (proposed by the Chairlift Company, not by environmentalists, not by us, in order to eliminate the objection of SNH over fears of increased damage to Cairn Gorm by the attraction of the levels of summer tourists needed to make the project viable). We agreed that it was necessary but also to monitor developments with SNH. To this end we are now talking to Bob Kinnaird of the Cairngorm Mountain Company (formerly CCC), about the impact of the development on the environment and on climbers and ski-mountaineers.

From: The Scottish Mountaineer, March 2001.

Background

Read the previous articles

December 2000	August 2000	April 2000
August 1999	May 1999	January 1999
August 1998	February 1998	August 1997
May 1997	April 1996	February 1996

The Chairlift Company view