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Written by Roy Brown

Category: Resources

Published: 20 December 2013

If you wish to support the A9GB campaign, these are some of the things you can do to help, most will only take a moment:

• Follow us on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/A9GreenBridges 
  Then hover over our Facebook name or our 'Liked' button, then 'settings', and select 'Most updates' or 'All updates'
• Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/A9GreenBridges and use the #A9GB hash tag.
• Like, share and post. Show your support. Tell your friends.
• Comment on the consultations on the Transport Scotland A9 Dualling site using their comment form or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Email your MSP who you can find by a MSP post code search.
• We are looking at setting up a petition. More info to follow soon.
• If you have any skills to help us. In particular we are looking for a graphic designer for a logo and an infographic.
• Donate to our campaign via our Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group (Scottish Charity SC003846) link at top right of site. We are all volunteers.
• Most of all, be part of a campaign that can make a difference.

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Written by Administrator

Category: Resources

Published: 21 September 2012

CNPA wants over 20 percent rise in Park population

The Cairngorms National Park Authority’s housing policy in Badenoch and Strathspey assumes a 20 percent increase in population over the next 20 years, accepting the Highland Council’s highest growth predictions (Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2011). Not content with this, however, the Authority wishes to push for increased economic growth and increased migration into the area (Miles, 2012) (Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2011).  It does not accept that this will have a detrimental effect on the Park’s “special qualities” (Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2011).

Increase in holiday homes marker of CNPA success?

Duncan Bryden, the new Chairman of the CNPA, evidently regards the cherry picking of local homes as holiday homes as an indicator of the Park’s success.  In an article in The Geographer (Spring 2012) heralding the CNPA’s successes, Duncan Bryden writes: “Every year, over 1 .3 million visitors enjoy outdoor pursuits [in the Park], with affluent walkers and skiers snapping up surplus rural properties for holiday homes…” (Bryden, 2012)

CNPA draft national park plan consultation – response rate plummets

The CNPA has repeatedly extolled the success of its consultation process, and used this to justify its more controversial decisions (Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, 11 January 2012).  Despite this the inhabitants of the Park are increasingly unconvinced that it is worth taking part.  From 2006 to 2011 the number of individual responses to the Draft National Park Plan consultations halved (2006 - 61 : 2011 - 33); the number of people attending public consultation meetings dropped by almost 200 people (from 588 in 2006 to ‘nearly’ 400 in 2011) and even the number of public bodies consulted dropped from 21 to 13 (Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2007) (Miles, 2012).  Not surprising given that the views of those who do make the considerable efforts needed to take part in CNPA consultations are so often ignored or dismissed as ill-informed or naive.

Scottish park board members – we voted for you but we can’t contact you

Despite the fact that the CNPA is proud of the fact that it numbers directly elected members amongst its board it makes it extremely difficult for those who elected these board members to contact them to make their opinions known.  Out of the 15 British national parks, only the two Scottish national parks refuse to publish contact details for board members on their websites.  While the English national parks give postal address, telephone numbers and e-mail, the Scottish parks do not even offer an e-mail address!

References

Bryden, D., 2012. The Cairngorms National Park- A Park for All. The Geographer: The newsletter of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Issue Spring 2012, p. 14.

Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2007. Consultation Report on the Cairngorms National Park Plan, Grantown-on-Spey: Cairngorms National Park Authority.

Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2011. Cairngorms National Park Local Development Plan Main Issues Report Background Evidence 1: Housing and Population, Grantown-on-Spey: Cairngorms National Park Authority.

Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2011. Minutes of Board Meeting, 16 March 2011, Grantown-on-Spey: Cairngorms National Park Authority.
Miles, G., 2012. National Park Plan Review Consultation Report, Grantown-on-Spey: Cairngorms National park Authority.

Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, 11 January 2012. Bosses accused of 'paving over' national park, Inverness: Scottish Provincial Press Ltd

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Written by Administrator

Category: Resources

Published: 23 April 2012

The first ever checklist of vascular plants of the Cairngorms National Park has been compiled based on an analysis of 281,000 botanical records collected and compiled by the BSBI. The Checklist : The Flora of the Cairngorms National Park - An Annotated Checklist by Andy Amphlett is intended to be of interest and use to local and visiting naturalists, landowners and managers, professional agencies and visitors. Hopefully it will also be a stimulus to further recording. The Checklist is made freely available as a download from http://www.bsbi.org.uk/site_floras.html

The Checklist is available in summary pdf format, and as an Excel file. The latter provides the greatest flexibility for assessing the flora of any individual site against the CNP as a whole. This provides a powerful analytic tool to assess conservation significance, and will hopefully inform development decisions.

Heath cudweed Gnaphalium sylvaticum one of the scarce
plants BSCG has found at at a threatened site in Carrbridge.

The Checklist lists 1699 unique taxa, plus 34 aggregate taxa. 67.8% of taxa are native to the CNP, 6.4% archaeophyte (ancient introductions to GB) and 25.8% neophyte (recently introduced aliens). 123 taxa are endemic to Great Britain, of which 19 are endemic to the CNP and a further 57 endemic to Scotland. 1428 taxa (82.4%) have been recorded over the last 25 years, 1987 – 2011, while 106 taxa (6.1%) have not been seen since before 1970.

The table below summarises those native and archaeophyte taxa:

• Of international or national conservation concern.
• Rare in the CNP.
• Not recorded for >25 years in the CNP.
• Whose hectad (10km grid square) frequency in the CNP indicates that the CNP population is of moderate, high or very high significance within Great Britain.

The next phase of this project will be to compile a Cairngorms National Park Rare Plant Register. This will list the most recent record at each known site, for all c.758 taxa which are of national conservation concern or that are rare in the CNP.

BSBI especially through its system of vice-county recorders provided the bulk of the data. In the acknowledgements to his Check list the author lists the support provided by BSBI and Scottish Natural Heritage in undertaking the project. He further thanks NESBReC, NTS, RSPB, FES, and individual recorders for additional records and Tim Rich, Bert Reid and Mark Hill for support. Andy Amphlett and those who have helped him produce this important checklist are to be congratulated.

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Written by Administrator

Category: Resources

Published: 14 April 2012

Wood ants are one of the most important ecological players in Caledonian pinewood forest and are also found in forest edge and some rich lowland heathland and bog woodland habitats. These 'keystone species' can be viewed as good indicators of the health of some of our most iconic habitats.

The narrow headed ant has its most northern known UK population  at
Carrbridge where this photo was taken on a threatened site.

In Strathspey we have all the four kinds of wood ants that occur in Scotland, including the largest and most northern known surviving population of the narrow headed ant (Formica exsecta) in the UK. This ant is a UK Red Data Book 1 species. Two of our wood ants, the hairy or northern wood ant and the Scottish wood ant (F. lugubris and F. aquilonia), are on the Scottish Biodiversity List. This list contains species considered by Scottish ministers to be a priority for conservation (for purpose of the Nature Conservation Scotland Act). The blood red slave-maker ant (F. sanguinea) is believed to have declined in recent years in our district and tends to make a less elaborate nest than other wood ants and is easiest to find on sunny days in relatively open habitats.

The shining guest ant (Formicoxenus nitidulus) makes its home in the nests of various wood ants. It is considered to be at the northern limit of its range in the UK in our district, where it is rare. The gallows spider (Dipoena torva) feeds on wood ants. Both these species associated with wood ants are also on the Scottish Biodiversity List. The gallows spider has been found on two sites controlled by developer Tullochs. Both these sites are currently threatened by inappropriate development and are included in the legal challenge taken against the local plan of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. At least two species of wood ant are also found on the threatened An Camas Mor site.

With other organisations that recognize that wood ants need friends BSCG is supporting the wonderful wood ants initiative see:

www.woodants.org.uk
www.facebook.com/pages/Wonderful-Wood-Ants

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Written by Administrator

Category: Resources

Published: 05 March 2012

Planning Democracy campaigns for a fair and inclusive planning system in Scotland.  The charity will hold its conference, 'Planning: The People's Perspective' in Edinburgh on April 21.  Not content with inviting anyone with an interest in, or experience of, land use planning in Scotland to attend, P.D. hopes we will invite our elected representatives to become “keynote listeners” at the event and hear how those who experience the Scottish planning system first hand feel about it.

Clare Symonds, founder of Planning Democracy says of the conference:

“Scotland's planning system is weighted against ordinary people, the very people who will be affected and who should be able to influence it.  It is time to rebalance the system and give people more rights and to make it far more inclusive than it is. This conference intends to show how ordinary people experience the planning system and to gather people together to work together to make it fairer.”

At the conference you will

• hear how well the planning system works for ordinary people,
• hear Planning Democracy’s views on how to campaign for a more inclusive system
• hear other people's views on the planning system

You will have the opportunity to

• meet other people and exchange experiences of planning
• attend workshops on a variety of issues from access to justice, planning appeals, to making complaints and Freedom of Information
• work with Planning Democracy to campaign for change where it is needed.

The conference is affordable (£10) and is held on a Saturday in central Edinburgh, close to the train and bus stations. Refreshments and lunch are included in the price.

Representatives from organisations such as The Information Commission, the Public Services Ombudsman, the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) as well as legal firms and environmental NGO's such as Friends of the Earth  will be attending and providing afternoon workshops.

For more information follow this link.

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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Resources

Published: 27 October 2011

Access to environmental justice is featured in the 2011  Autumn/ Winter issue of the Friends of the Earth supporters magazine 'What On Earth'

Friends of the Earth Scotland are understood to be the first Scottish NGO to intervene in a case at the UK Supreme Court. The organisation took the decision to intervene in a case involving pleural plaque sufferers. This case   provided an opportunity to challenge the restrictive interpretation that courts in Scotland have sometimes placed on 'title and interest', which is the Scots Law test of standing: the right to have your case heard by the court. Despite supporting the involvement of the pleural plaque sufferers, the Scottish Government opposed Friends of the Earth Scotland's intervention.

Significantly the court ruling upheld the right of campaign groups to have cases heard in a Scottish court soley on public interest grounds.

Title and interest' has been an issue in a number of high-profile environmental cases in recent months such as when local resident, Molly Forbes, was deemed not to have 'title and interest' in her judicial review against Donald Trump and Aberdeenshire Council. 

In championing access to environmental justice Friends of the Earth Scotland have called on the Scottish government to make it easier for breaches of environmental law and poor decisions to be challenged. Friends of the Earth Scotland is part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups - covering every continent. BSCG welcomes support from Friends of the Earth Scotland for our fight for environmental justice in the Cairngorms National Park.