Bid to block 2,000 homes in Cairngorms
A legal battle over plans for up to 2,000 in Badenoch and Strathspey is just about to resume in the country’s highest civil court.
It will be the latest bout over the Cairngorms National Park Local Plan which makes provision for up to 1,500 homes at An Camas Mor and nearly 500 elsewhere in the strath.
Earlier this week the Cairngorms Campaign, Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group (BSCG), the Scottish Campaign for National Parks and Buglife launched an fundraising appeal for £30,000 to help them fight the plans which they claim will see large parts of the strath paved over.
Dr Gus Jones, spokeman for BSCG, said: "Some costs have already accrued for example for the photocopying of paperwork that had to be submitted and legal time to produce this.
"There are court costs charged now I think by the half hour in court and these have significantly escalated since last January, and obviously there are QC and other costs once we’re in court.
"These are costs that will be accrued."
Dr Jones said: "We would urge people to make a donation towards our legal costs as soon as possible at safeguardthecairngorms.org.uk."
The on-going legal challenge by conservationists follows a public inquiry which was held into the Cairngorms National Park Local Plan in May, 2009, which was critical of the amount of land allocated for housing in the national park.
BSCG, the Cairngorms Campaign and the SCNP took the authority to the Court of Session in Edinburgh claiming the park authority had ignored the Reporters’ findings and objecting to the amount of land designated for new housing.
The wildlife groups say the housing developments have been allocated in the Cairngorms National Park Local Plan "without appropriate assessment of the potential adverse impacts on wildlife".
The park authority has deferred the assessments to the later stages in the planning process.
Craig Macadam, Buglife Scotland Director said: "To consider developing on these sites without proper assessment of the potential adverse impacts on wildlife is unacceptable.
"The proposed development sites are home to Scotland’s rare and endangered wildlife including Narrow-headed ant, Blaeberry bumblebee, Scottish wildcat and red squirrels".
The charities will be attending the legal hearing due to resume next Tuesday and Wednesday (March 12 and 13).
The BSCG has also said it would support plans being mooted for the introduction of an environmental court or tribunal. Such a move could reduce prohibitively expensive legal costs for the parties involved.
A BSCG spokesperson commented: "We recognise that the availability of appeal mechanisms is all but meaningless if they remain prohibitively expensive to pursue.
"The Scottish Government made a manifesto commitment to explore the option of an environmental court or tribunal. We welcome that questions are being asked about this in the Scottish Parliament as it could help to ensure environmental justice is not prohibitively expensive."
An Camas Mòr lies across the River Spey from Aviemore, and the new community was originally proposed in 1989 by the village’s community council because of a lack of land for development in Aviemore itself.
The long-running project has been supported by Highland Regional Council and its local authority successors throughout. In 2009 An Camas Mòr was selected by the Scottish Government as one of 11 proposed Scottish Sustainable Communities.
Lord Glennie rejected the legal challenge last Autumn only for the trio of conservation groups to lodge an appeal against his ruling.