Wild Land News no 67, Autumn 2006

Hope for Control of Upland Tracks? Article

An Executive Review offers an opportunity to press for more regulation over the construction of these eyesores. Hamish Johnston reports.

The ugly scar of the newly bulldozed track on Carn na Saobhaidhe - photo:Hamish Johnston

The last few weeks have seen a flurry of publicity that could lead to tighter controls on the number and quality of upland tracks…and SWLG members can help bring this about if they act now.

On 25 August the Inverness Courier carried a big feature on a particular track in the Monadhliath Mountains south of Inverness. They interviewed Sigrid Rausing, owner of the Coignafearn Estate, who is very concerned about the construction by the neighbouring Dunmaglass estate of a wide track that runs from the glen right to the summit of Carn na Saobhaidhe (811metres) with a spur to Carn Mhic Iamhair (781 metres). It also connects to an existing wind turbine at 672 metres on the southern end of Beinn Dubhcharaidh.

Dunmaglass have said that the track was made between 2002 and 2003 to support their farming and sporting activities, which exempted them from planning permission. But another player was mentioned in the article - Renewable Energy Systems (RES) which apparently will be submitting a revised application to the Scottish Executive for a windfarm - on Dunmaglass. RES deny any involvement in the Dunmaglass track.

I was unaware of this controversy when in June, as part of my round of the Corbetts, I climbed Carn na Saobhaidhe from the south and encountered this track as I approached the summit. The despoliation of the hill is amongst the worst that I have encountered in over 30 years of hill walking. I was moved to write to Highland Council's Director of Planning & Development (DPD) and sent site photographs. The upshot of my correspondence with the DPD was that:

The estate did not require planning permission because they had built the track to support their farming and sporting departments. The track is a "Permitted Development" under Part 6 Class 18 (1) of the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 as amended.
The Planning Authority has no control over a development once it has Permitted Development status.

There may or may not be an issue over whether this particular track was built for the permitted purposes or whether these were a cover for some other objective - only time will tell. But there is definitely an issue over the size of the track and the crudeness of its construction. In October 2004 measurements were taken - it was found to be 10 -12 metres wide including ditches and banks. The track itself is approximately 8 metres wide with ditches on either side each 1.0 - 1.5 metres wide. The track and ditches have been cut into the ground so that the road surface lies approximately 3 metres below the level of the surrounding land (see photograph). What sporting activities demand a track of such dimensions, one asks. Elephant hunting?

So what now? It is clear that the rules as they stand provide no protection for the landscape from the creation of crude bulldozed tracks, and are open to abuse at worst or bad taste at best.

The good news is that the Scottish Executive is currently reviewing the General Permitted Development Order. I would like to see a revised Order with more stringent criteria for approval of upland tracks. It should require that they be built appropriate to their approved purpose (which will limit the size) and to proper standards (such as the good practice guidance recently published by Scottish Natural Heritage). There should also be the sanction of required re-instatement of terrain where approval conditions are not met.

So help! SWLG members can easily influence this review. Why not write now to the Scottish Executive Development Department, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ ? And to your MSP.