Wild Land News no 56, Winter 2002/2003

AGM Report - May 2002

Alistair Cant reports on the visit to Schiehallion and the AGM at Dunkeld.

The AGM day started in the Schiehallion car park where Wild Landers were met by Paul Jarvis, a Trustee of the John Muir Trust. Paul welcomed everyone and explained briefly the history of the JMT purchase of the east half of Schiehallion. He then went on to cover the exciting plans for a new path up the hill along the east ridge, so that the heavily eroded existing path can be 'removed' by careful re-landscaping.

JMT have accessed over £1/2 m Heritage Lottery Fund money to assist with this initiative, and have just recruited an experienced manager, Chris Cairns, to co-ordinate all this work.

Our group went up the east ridge, and the low cloud cover meant that the mess of the current path was not obvious, until we squelched down through it from the top.

Paul also informed us that a new Trust has been formed locally, involving 10 Community Councils and other local organisations and people. The Highland Perthshire Community Land Trust had just bought Dun Coillich, the hill to the east of Schiehallion. More low-lying than Schiehallion and covered mainly in heather, the hill had been the run for an adjacent deer farm. The farm had closed and the Trust were able to buy the hill without any farmed animals at all. This bodes well for regeneration. The new Trust aims to have a strong educational role for local children, and is an interesting new element in the diverse types of ownership locally.

The Wild Land Group AGM was held in that evening in Dunkeld, and co-ordinator Alistair Cant outlined the activities of the last 12 months, most notably the activity around the Land Reform legislation and the impact of foot and mouth disease.

Tim Ambrose, the Treasurer indicated the finances were healthy, and funds are being applied this year for a special publication in this International Year of the Mountain. Copies of the Accounts are available from the Treasurer as always. The Steering Team was then re-elected and there are still places available if anyone is interested.

The AGM finished with a talk from Andy MacPherson, the IYM co-ordinator. The scope of the IYM project was outlined, and a discussion followed as to how it would integrate with the work of SWLG and other organisations. The talk was lavishly illustrated with splendid slides showing Scotland's mountains at their best.