Letter to the Audit Committee

BSCG call to audit committee following funicular review

Funicular Financial Fiasco:

Concerns about the economic viability of a funicular railway on Cairn Gorm long pre-date the granting of taxpayer support for the project . In a letter to the Scotsman newspaper in 1996 Professor Chris Smout (then Deputy Chairman of SNH but writing in an individual capacity) commented "We are likely to be faced with another economic, political and planning disaster. It is for those charged with surveillance over economic development to take action now to stop a fiasco of this kind."

Also in the Scotsman (May 15 1996) Sir John Lister- Kaye wrote he found it "tragic" that Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) "refuse to recognise the international importance of the Cairngorms as a natural heritage site of world class and the inherent fragility which goes with it."

Critic of the funicular Sir John Lister- Kaye has also been quoted from 2001 as follows "As the funicular railway progresses steadily towards the summit of the most precious and fragile mountain ecosystem in Britain so it concretes itself into scottish history as an icon of bad planning and fudged responsibility ....In the name of contorted economics and recreation , it stands as a triumph of crass materialism over wildness and the authority of nature".

An important point made by respected business man David Hayes (Scotsman letter May 15 1996) was that "With sensitive development this area will sustain far more jobs than the Chairlift company's proposals will ever do".

As the audit Committee of the Scottish parliament consider a long awaited report. It is perhaps a good time to remember that Sir David Attenborough and other highly respected figures were right and were not duped when they warned “..this project represents poor value for money to the taxpayer” and when they reminded the Secretary of State “alternative, environmentally sustainable and more economically viable options are available and should be considered”.

Here we post a copy of the Sir David Attenborough letter. One of the otherwell known signatories of this letter was the late Sir Edward Peck who until his recent death was a BSCG member. We would like to thank the North East Mountain Trust for making available a copy the Attenborough open letter as it appeared on pages 14-16 in the Autumn 1996 NEMT newsletter.

We also post a recent submission by BSCG to the Audit Committee of the Scottish parliament in which we request that more work is done by the audit office.

Please see 24 October 2009 letter to the Audit Committee.