National ParkJanuary 2003: The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 passed through the Scottish Parliament. The Act establishes statutory rights of access to land and inland water for outdoor recreation. The new rights are expected to come into force later in 2004.
November 2002: The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill has been amended at Stage 2 in the Scottish Parliament. This involved detailed consideration of amendments by the Justice 2 Committee. At Stage 3 the amended bill will be debated by whole parliament. Scotsman comment
June 2001: NEMT comments on Part 1 of the Bill (as introduced).
July 2000: NEMT response to the Scottish Executive's draft Land Reform Bill
The Scottish Executive's Land Reform webpage covers Access, Feudal Reform, National Parks with links to the Land Reform White Paper (July 1999) and the Scottish Law Commission Report (February 1999) on abolition of the feudal system.
Scottish Natural Heritage published their Advice to Government in November 1998.
The Caledonia Centre for Social Development publishes:
The Land Reform Policy Group's recommendations (January 1999) together with its two earlier consultation papers are available from the Scottish Office web site:
The Scottish Parliament website gives the progress of legislation, background research papers
National ParkSeptember 2003: Formal transfer of powers to Cairngorms National Park Authority established Scotland's second National Park, the largest in the UK (1,466 square miles) and one of the biggest in Europe. The Park Authority has powers to call in for its consideration any planning application for a proposed development in the Park area which could impact on the National Park aims:
from Scotsman: Park Opening
May 2003: Drennan Watson expresses his concerns about proposals to develop the water extraction from Glen Einich.
March 2003: 25 members of the Cairngorms National Park Authority formally assumed their powers and set up a constitution and standing orders. In addition to the 20 members of the Authority appointed by Ministers, five members were elected in a ballot of local electors (Statement of Persons Nominated). Members of the Board will be remunerated at a rate of £175 per day. On average they will be expected to make a commitment of 2-3 days per month. Scotsman report
February 2003: sustainable land management report; BBC Radio 4 Nature programme investigates The Cairngorms.
January 2003: The MCof S and Perth & Kinross Council began a campaign to change the plans for the boundaries of the Cairngorms National Park.
December 2002: The Cairngorms National Park Designation Order was approved by the Scottish Parliament. The Rural Development and Transport and Environment Committees recommended approval of the revised draft Order, designating a larger area than that proposed in the earlier draft.
NEMT Press Release requesting Scottish Ministers and MSPs to:
briefing papers on boundary and planning powers
Background paper from SPICe - Maps - Cairngorm Landscapes
October 2002: Pressure grows for U-turn over size of Cairngorms National Park - NEMT Letter to Deputy Minister - "Plan to halve Cairngorms is a 'stitch-up'"
Views of: Rural Development Committee, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Council for National Parks - press coverage
August 2002: NEMT's response to the Scottish Executive's draft Designation Order for a Cairngorms National Park.
October 2001: SNH published their report on the consultation on proposals for a Cairngorms National Park. NEMT's response to the proposals. Rhona Brankin MSP the Minister in charge of National Parks has asked the Cairngorms Partnership to anticipate a new Park Authority by carrying out some preliminary work on the administrative and other procedural matters that would be needed to install it, and bring it up to operational speed as quickly as possible. In response to its new remit, and in discussion with the five local authorities concerned, the Partnership has set up a small Management Group of senior officials well qualified in public finance, law, and administration, under the chairmanship of Ken McKay, a Director of the Partnership, and an expert in local government.
Think-net discussion group - SNH Overview - Justoutstanding website
Jonathan Hart has taken up appointment as Nevis Manager.
SportScotland published the report of a year-long survey of visitor use of the Nevis Area - PDF summary | full report
Highland Council-led Nevis Working Group have produced a strategy for environmental and visitor management in the Nevis Area. summary document
March 2004: Scottish Ministers reject application: Scotsman (17/3/04)
September 2003: The Planning and Development committee of Highland Council voted not to object to HLP' s plans - against the advice of their Director of Planning. A full meeting of the Council on 11th also voted by 32 to 27 in favour of the application. The final decision rests with the Scottish Executive.
August 2003: SNH objected to the application on account of its likely adverse effects:
May 2003: The proposal for a hydro-electric scheme in the Shieldaig Forest & Slattadale areas of Wester Ross was advertised in The Scotsman. The developer Highland Light & Power, had a non-technical summary and a list of questions and answers on their website.
The Adventure Centre, Ratho recently hosted the 10th world youth indoor climbing championships. The MC of S website has a report and photos. The event was filmed by Triple Echo for BBC and was shown on 10th October on BBC 1 Scotland. The film shows the world's biggest climbing competition. With more than 350 competitors from 30 countries, this was a great 4 day event. It was the first time the competition has ever come to the UK and featured two of Scotland's up and coming young climbing talents.
June 2003: From the Friends of Queen's View - reapplication October 2004
There has been a fantastic number of objections to the quarry received by the
planners at Stonehaven and the local councillors, it has been said that it is
the greatest number ever received objecting to an application in the area. This
just shows how wide and deep is the concern for this very special bit of Scotland.
Councillors unanimously rejected the proposal on September 30, last year after officials confirmed it constituted a wholesale breach of local policy.The planners in Stonehaven went through the consultation process with all
the various bodies, roads, tourism, economic development, SWT, SNH etc etc and
have received the responses. I believe that the concern of the responses "are
not lightweight". Sim has been sent these concerns for comment but it is
believed that he has not responded to them. Neither has he produced the required
Traffic Impact Assessment.
Background: Alex Sim Plant Hire has unveiled plans to extract 2 million cubic feet of pink granite from a site at Craiglich, beside the Queen's View on Deeside. Local residents in and around Tarland are campaigning to halt plans for the quarry. They believe the quarry would create a traffic nightmare and pose a serious risk to wildlife. Scottish Natural Heritage has also voiced concerns over the scheme which would affect what it describes as an area of "regional landscape significance".
NEMT Response | Newsletter article
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Page updated 18-Feb-2006