Letter: Another proposed development for the Mossie

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Written by Administrator

Category: Debates

Published: 21 September 2012

Dear Sir,

I feel compelled to write to you about further potential development plans for the area of land in Grantown known as the Mossie.

Grantown residents will recall that the Mossie is a floodplain and a hot spot for a wealth of rare and interesting wildlife. The burns that run through it provide a foraging route for Otter.

Many residents and a local conservation group believe that the Mossie should be preserved as a nature reserve.

The furore surrounding the recent Muir Homes attempt to develop a large part of the Mossie with over 200 homes should still be fresh in the minds of the residents of Grantown.

With that in mind, you would think that the same application would still be reasonably fresh in the mind of Cairngorm National Park Planners, especially since they took a great deal of flack from local residents, conservationists and ultimately Scottish Government Reporters in connection with that matter.

SEPA sustained an objection to the development throughout that application on the basis that built development cannot take place on a functional flood plain. New development itself would not only be at risk, but it would add to the risk of flooding elsewhere.

As a direct consequence of Muir Homes’ failed application, National Park Planners zoned a large area of land to the south-west of Seafield Avenue for future housing development. This now forms part of the National Park adopted Local Plan.

It is worth pointing out that not one brick had been laid in this large virgin newly zoned area.

It may then come as some surprise that National Park Planners are quietly seeking opinion about zoning an area of land on the Mossie for future housing development. Park Planners are describing this as a ‘future opportunity’ and describing this process as an ‘informal consultation’.

The area of land in question is directly to the west of Mossie Road with the only conceivable access via the small cul-de-sac off Mossie Road.

Park Planners have officially sought the opinion of the Grantown and vicinity Community Council whose members did not feel that the Mossie should be developed for housing.

There was no such engagement for the residents of Grantown whose only hope of uncovering the information regarding this ‘informal consultation’ would have been to trawl through the Park’s website. It would seem that Park Planners have not felt the need to connect directly with the local communities which they serve.

Residents could be forgiven for thinking that there is sufficient land already zoned for future housing development in Grantown. It may be that some of your readership supports this ‘opportunity’, or perhaps your readers would prefer to see the Mossie safeguarded as a Nature Reserve. Whatever their opinion, they have a right to express it and should inform Park Planners before Friday 28th September 2012.

Comments can be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or sent to Albert Memorial Hall, Station Square, Ballater, AB35 5QB.

More information, including maps, can be found on The National Park’s website: www.cairngorms.co.uk/park-authority/planning/local-plan/local-development-plan/

Name & address supplied.

Published in The Badenoch and Strathspey Herrald, 20 September 2012.

The Scotsman: "tiger like ferocity and chemical weapons"

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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Debates

Published: 27 August 2012

Hairy wood ants on threatened sites in Strathspey.

The Scotsman newspaper has reported on 25 August 2012 that despite "tiger like ferocity and chemical weapons" wood ants including the hairy wood ant that are among key species on Scotlands nationwide biodiversity list are still no match against destructive development in Strathspey.

See The Scotsman.

Wood ant nest near  proposed caravan site at Granish.

Hairy wood ants on threatened sites in Strathspey.

Letter: Controversial Position On New Town Proposal

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Written by Roy Turnbull

Category: Debates

Published: 23 August 2012

Letter published in Strathspey and Badenoch Herald 23 August 2012

Dear Sir,

In promotional advertisements for Rothiemurchus Estate, Sir David Attenborough is quoted as describing this key location within the Cairngorms National Park as “one of the glories of wild Scotland”, (Strathy, 9th August).  The ‘An Camas Mor’ or ‘Cambusmore’  area of the estate  near the River Spey is known to be a remarkable site within Rothiemurchus. It falls entirely within a National Scenic Area and supports priority habitats and priority species.  It includes stands of trees on the Ancient Woodland Inventory and lies near to sensitive European Conservation sites. The site lies within one of the highest ranked important areas for invertebrates in the Cairngorms area and is a home to protected wildlife.

An Camas Mor, Rothiemurchus.

On the one hand,  Rothiemurchus estate proudly advertises glorious wild countryside. On the  other hand, ACM LLP, whose partners are the laird of the estate and his son, is pushing  to secure permission for an entire new town of 1500 houses at An Camas Mor. The controversial position adopted by the Cairngorms National Park Authority has been to give strong support to this proposal.

The Chief Executive of the CNPA, Jane Hope, has told readers (May 24) that a large new development at ACM would “take the pressure off the countryside” i.e. would take the pressure off  for developments in other parts of the National Park, the pretence being that if the Strath had a new town there would not be need for so many other developments elsewhere.

However, this claim is flawed and unreasonable. Firstly, An Camas Mor is itself prime quality countryside. Secondly,  there is no evidence that the pressure for development elsewhere has been relieved: quite the contrary.

It is lamentable that in a key area of the Cairngorms National Park one of Attenborough’s glories of wild Scotland is under assault, whilst his name is apparently being used to suggest otherwise.

Yours sincerely,

Roy Turnbull (Vice-convener, Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group)

Review: Two new books by Adam Watson

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Written by David Duncan

Category: Mountain

Published: 22 August 2012

Human Impacts on the Northern Cairngorms by Adam Watson and A Snow book, Northern Scotland by Adam Watson.

For any serious student of the ecology of the Cairngorm Mountains these two books by Dr. Adam Watson are essential reading and should be on all school and public library shelves.

The volume, Human Impacts on the Northern Cairngorms, is in two main parts, the first being based on the scientific evidence which Dr Watson presented at the Lurcher’s Gully Public Inquiry, into the proposed westward expansion of downhill ski development at Cairn Gorm. The Inquiry followed objections by the then Nature Conservancy Council and other bodies, to the Cairngorm Chairlift Company’s proposals for new ski lifts and other facilities in Coir an t-Sneachda, Coire an Lochain and Allt Creag an Leth-choin (anglicised to Lurcher’s Gully) and for a new road into the Lurcher’s Gully.

Dr Watson’s evidence was based mainly on fieldwork carried out by him in 1981, but also on his long experience and knowledge of the area, both as a research scientist and as a recreational skier and mountaineer. This is the first time much of this information has been published and made available to the general public.  Technical descriptions are given of the corries with details of geomorphology, snow lie, soil types and vegetation etc.

The second part of the book brings the story up to date with a range of topics such as an analysis of visitor counts, human impacts on soils and vegetation, flash flooding, habitat changes and impacts on bird and mammal populations. Most of this is again based on his own meticulous recording and observations but he also quotes other field workers and lists their published evidence.

Of particular interest here is the chapter on human induced erosion on Cairn Gorm where Dr Watson quotes examples of excessive human trampling and widening of paths, causing deposition of infertile grit onto the thin top soils and smothering the existing vegetation. Recovery of this vegetation by re-colonisation of such areas is usually an extremely slow process. The photograph on the front cover of the book taken in 1970 shows how bad things were then, after the bulldozing of the new pistes,  the construction of ski lifts and new buildings.

There is another particularly interesting chapter (co-authored with Desmond Nethersole-Thompson) on the changes in bird populations at Glen More. The demise of the population of waders and other species from the area around Loch Morlich due to forestry drainage, close planting of non-native conifers and increased visitor pressure, is well documented.  The early plantations of Sitka Spruce at canopy closure also killed much of the ground vegetation and reduced the value of the woods for the specialist pinewood bird species such as black grouse and capercaillie. However as a post script to this chapter Dr Watson does give credit to the Forestry Commission for a change in management practice since the 1990’s ‘to create a pinewood reserve in Glen More in order to forge a link between Abernethy and Rothiemurchus’.

It is almost 30 years since the first Lurcher’s Gully Public Inquiry and it is easy to forget that a whole generation of recreational hill users has grown up, perhaps unaware of the battles and debates of the past. We should all be grateful therefore to people like Dr Watson who has fought so tirelessly for the protection of the Cairngorms and who has made so much of the scientific information available to the public in this book.

The Cairngorm Mountains are the snowiest part of the British Isles and have been the subject of study by scientists and amateur observers for many years. Adam Watson’s interest in the snowfields was sparked by his schoolboy readings of Seton Gordon’s books on the Cairngorms. Seton Gordon’s observations on surviving snowfields began in the years before the 1914-18 War, but he documented the recollections of older local people on the subject whose memories went back to the mid 19th century.

Dr Watson has brought the story up to date by publishing his field observations from 1938 to the present day. He has also applied his methodical scientific approach and has analysed historical records from the Earl of Fife’s ‘Journal of Weather at Marr Lodge (1783-92)’ to more recently published papers and Met Office records. He also quotes local Strathspey people’s observations and recollections, such as the late Pat McLean of Nethy Bridge, Donnie Smith of Lurg and  Carrie and Desmond Nethersole-Thompson of Whitewell.

The evidence shows that there have been significant declines in snow survival compared with the years up to the early 1930s and this trend has accelerated since 1990. The melting of the ‘Eternal Snows’ (as described by Seton Gordon) occurred only in 1933, 1959, 1996, 2003 and 2006. The recent snowy winters of 2010 and 2011 may well be an aberration.

A snow patch in Badenoch summer 2012.

There is a particularly interesting chapter where Dr Watson discusses the suggestion by some researchers that the colder climatic conditions of the Little Ice Age in the 1700s and 1800s may have resulted in the return of glaciation to the Garbh Choire Mor of Braeriach. Their theory was based on the age of the lichens growing on the rocky ridge below the snow beds of the inner corrie. Dr Watson considers this unlikely and suggests that these rocks are not of recent morainic origin but are probably a protalus rampart, that is rocks which have fallen from the cliffs above due to frost shattering.

There are also notes and photographs showing the use of snow by hill birds and mammals and some excellent photographs of snow features and snow avalanches.

This book is a must- read for all snow enthusiasts; for scientists or for the casual observer who wants to learn more of the snow fields of the Cairngorms which add immeasurably to the landscape value of our uplands.

Both books are published by Paragon Publishing.

David Duncan

Plan for one of Scotlands "greatest National Assets"

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Written by Gus Jones

Category: Debates

Published: 22 June 2012

On 22 June BSCG discovered that a New National Park Plan with a a forward by Minister for the Environment and Climate change has been posted on the CNPA website.

The Badenoch & Strathspey Conservation Group has commented on this:-

"Responsible planning in National Parks should be one of the foremost methods by which landscapes, habitats and species are protected. The quality of Scotland’s natural environment is fundamental to people’s livelihoods and quality of life. 
We are concerned that aspects of the consultation process were flawed, ignoring some serious concerns about safeguarding the natural and cultural heritage and giving insufficient attention to national interests. It is wrong if many of those making the effort to respond to the consultation end up concluding that the process was a ‘stitch up’ from the start, with short term thinking taking undue precedence. We do not see the minister’s expressions of approval for the consultation process as reflecting the experience of our community group. 

We are concerned that this document is devoid of serious targets properly reflecting the statutory aims of the park and that this deficiency will open the way to further damaging development. 

We and others have queried why the National Park Authority has launched into producing a new National Park Plan before the first plan had run its course or the out of date 2002 Cairngorms Biodiversity Action Plan has been updated. Certainly the second park plan with its shortened horizons appears depressingly devoid of tangible long term targets. Pretty pictures and fine words are one thing but for a key document like this to be thin on solid commitments cannot bode well for the interests of the public, our natural heritage or Scotland’s international reputation."