Park Board Sidelines Walkers
By John Donohoe
So one is up and running and the other has announced its Board. Impressed? Not yet. Lomond and the Trossachs got ambushed at the start on some of the outstanding planning issues the craven local authorities had left for them. The tabloid hysteria and the rash of misinformation meant that the children's hospice project near Balloch was an unwinnable situation; the passing of the wholly inappropriate, and locally opposed, development for Balmaha is less understandable. We can only hope that the Board can evolve a coherent process more consistent with the high aspirations of the supporters of the park system. Mind you, the rash of Lomond and Trossachs Park signs along the peripheral roads have an Alice in Wonderland character, especially when they point both ways at junctions. I particularly like the signs up the A9, which must be designed to point up the absurd decision to exclude Highland Perthshire from the Cairngorms Park.
Just when you think they cannot damage the credibility of the Cairngorms Park further, they do. Getting it wrong on planning powers, then on boundaries, and now on Board composition. There are some good people there and I'm sure Willie McKenna and others will rightly and vigorously defend local interests. But the board looks unbalanced, with no representative of informal outdoor recreation, particularly inappropriate for an area that includes the country's principal winter sports areas and the prestigious National Outdoor Centre at Glenmore Lodge. The Board is also shy of the kind of internationally recognised figure who could lead the campaign for World Heritage Site status. I presume that is still an aspiration? Having failed again to take the opportunity to build trust and working relationships among the stakeholders and affected interest groups the onus is on the Board to demonstrate that it takes its responsibilities for access, conservation, and restoration seriously. The Cairngorms Partnership had started to address this and the Board needs to pick up some of their confidence building measures. Otherwise the gerrymandering that has given Highland Council a disproportionate voice could lead to the exporting of the rancorous and confrontational approach of Strathspey into those other areas where more effective working relationships have been the norm.
There is obviously reluctance among politicians to talk of further parks until the first two have some track record. The inclusion in the Labour Party Manifesto of a Maritime Park is a start, but we need to prepare the ground for appropriate precursor bodies for the obvious candidate areas. Where local people, businesses, recreationalists, politicians, and environmentalists can learn to work together effectively there is a better chance that we can develop the kind of Park we can all relate to and be proud of.
Campaigning for a Bigger Boundary
Perthshire Alliance for the Real Cairngorms - PARC
By Mike Dales
The MCofS has joined forces with a broad and unprecedented range of bodies to form the Perthshire Alliance for the Real Cairngorms (PARC), a campaign with the aim of achieving a re-drawing of the boundary (by changing the Designation Order) of the Cairngorms National Park.
PARC began as a coming together of Perth and Kinross Council, the MCofS, Cairngorms Campaign, National Trust for Scotland and Ramblers and others. By the time of its launch on March 12th the bodies on board included the Perthshire Tourist Board, Highland Perthshire Communities Partnership, Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, Atholl Mercantile Association, Atholl Estate, John Muir Trust, North East Mountain Trust, Plantlife Scotland, RSPB Scotland, Rural Scotland, Scottish Council for National Parks, Scottish Countryside Activities Council, Scottish Native Woods, Scottish Wild Land Group, Woodland Trust Scotland and WWF Scotland. Since then the Perthshire Advertiser newspaper has joined the campaign, organised a petition and issued a “PARC it in Perthshire” car sticker.
Scottish Outdoor Access Code
ACT NOW - make your views known to SNH
By Mike Dales
The Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) consultation into the draft Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) runs until June 30th. This exercise was mentioned in the “Access Legislation” article in the April issue of The Scottish Mountaineer, and many of our readers will by now have received their copies of the consultative version of the Code.
For those still wishing to participate in this exercise, the details of how to obtain a copy of the Code, and a link to the electronic version of the Code, can be found on the MCofS website. For those without Internet access a copy can be obtained by writing to SNH at: Scottish Outdoor Access Code Consultation, Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW, and requesting a copy of the draft Code.
At the time of writing in April, we are still considering our response to the draft Code, but by the time this edition of The Scottish Mountaineer is published we will have posted our reaction to it on the MCofS website.
The final version of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code will sit alongside the access provisions in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, and in the early part of next year when the new statutory rights are enacted, the Act and Code will become the basis for our responsible right to be on land. It is important therefore, after the effort to gain a good deal in the Act, that we work hard for a workable and practical Code that does not take away our right at every opportunity. The Code consultation is of immense importance and the MCofS urges all walkers and climbers to make a response before the closing date on June 30th.
A Mountaineer on SNH Main Board!
Former MCofS President (1994 to 1998) Nick Kempe has been selected to sit on the main board of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) for a three-year term. The MCofS is delighted with this news and believe that Nick will make a valuable contribution to SNH's work during a vital period as the access section of the Land Reform Act and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code are implemented. We wish Nick all the very best in this new role and will endeavour to feed our members' comments to him so that he is kept aware of the main issues at any given time.
Police Wildlife Liaison Officers
By Mike Dales
Each Police Force in Scotland has a Police Wildlife Liaison Co-ordinator who is responsible for its work in tackling wildlife crimes and for co-ordinating the force's network of Police Wildlife Liaison Officers (PWLO). The MCofS believes that hillwalkers and climbers can play a vital role in the fight against wildlife crime, whether it is in Scotland or across the world. The nature of our activities mean that we may witness wildlife crimes being committed or find evidence of crimes after they have been committed. Furthermore, we may see wildlife crime, or its evidence, when we are overseas, for example the sale of illegal products in markets or the hunting of protected species.
Wildlife crime was covered in a guest article by Alan Stewart of Tayside Police in The Scottish Mountaineer 2 (May 1999). As a result of that article a number of clubs contacted their local PWLO to arrange a club talk on the issue of Wildlife Crime, and since then the MCofS has helped put local climbers in touch with PWLO's so that climbers can lend their local knowledge about recreational use of crags when there is suspicion of criminals operating in a particular area.
In order to make it easier for hillwalkers and climbers to make contact with a Police Wildlife Liaison Co-ordinator we are printing the contact details of the co-ordinator for each of the Scottish forces. Please use these contacts to report suspicious incidents that you come across, or to arrange for a club talk from a PWLO.
- Inspector Ian Cameron, Central Scotland Police,
Police Station, Mar Place, Alloa FK10 1AA
Tel: 01259 723255 ic30479@centralscotland.police.uk
- Inspector Bill Graham, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary,
Police Headquarters, Cornwall Mount, Dumfries DG1 1PZ
Tel: 01387 262059 william.graham@dumfriesandgalloway.pnn.police.uk
- Inspector John McDonald, Fife Constabulary,
Police Headquarters, Detroit Road, Kirkcaldy KY6 2RY
Tel: 01592 418888 John.McDonald@fife.pnn.police.uk
- Ch Supt Mike Watson, Landward Area Co-ordinator, Grampian Police,
Police Station, Harlaw Road, Inverurie AB51 3QD
Tel: 01467 620222 Mike.Watson@grampian.police.uk
- Sergeant Malcolm Henderson, Lothian and Borders Police,
Police Station, Coalmarket, Kelso TD5 7AH
Tel: 01573 223434 malcolm.henderson@lbp.pnn.police.uk
- Inspector John Grierson, Northern Constabulary,
Police Headquarters, Old Perth Road, Inverness IV2 3SY
Tel: 01463 720234 john.grierson@northern.pnn.police.uk
- Inspector Kenneth Swan, Operations, Strathclyde Police,
Police Headquarters, Pitt Street, Glasgow G2 4JS
Tel: 0141 532 2641 kenny.swan@strathclyde.pnn.police.uk
- Constable John Simpson, MOD Police,
RNAD Coulport, PO Box 1, Cove, Dunbartonshire G84 0PD
Tel: 01436 674321 mdpwlo@aol.com
- Mr Alan Stewart, Wildlife & Environment Officer, Tayside Police,
Divisional Police Headquarters, Barrack Street, Perth PH1 5SF
Tel: 01738 892650 alan.stewart@tayside.pnn.police.uk
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