Bigger picture is important here
EVERY year sees thousands upon thousands of visitors in every shape and form, ranging from high octane sports enthusiasts to ordinary lovers of the countryside, flocking to the Cairngorms.
Such a huge influx of people in their cars and on foot is bound to take its toll on the infrastructure of the iconic mountain range, bringing wear and tear to car parks, mountain tracks and footpaths.
So it is only right that those who get such great enjoyment from the area, are asked to put their hands in their pockets to help keep it in the best possible condition.
And that is now a step nearer following the approval by the Planning Committee of the Cairngorms National Park for the erection of six granite car park donation boxes at the Coire Cas car park.
It means visitors to CarnGorm Mountain will be able to put a little bit back to pay for the enjoyment the facilities, both man made and natural, on the hill provides.
It will not be a case of press-ganging folk into digging deep to cough up some of their hard earned cash. The donations will be purely voluntary, but will go some way towards making the mountain a better place to be.
Doubtless there will be some detractors who will feel they are being hard done by after enjoying years of free use of car parks and the other mountain attractions, but it should be noted the principle of voluntary charging schemes is generally well-established nationally and is becoming increasingly common within the Cairngorms National Park at a number of car parks in popular recreational destinations.
CairnGorm Mountain plans to use revenue gathered from the granite boxes to help pay for footpath repair, improvements to visitor information and other projects including benches and a mountain garden, and this can be no bad thing.
True, there are those who suspect this might be the first step in introducing a mandatory charge for access to the hills, but even so would the hill lovers really grudge a few bob – providing CairnGorm are not out to make a financial killing – which will be for the benefit of all.
Surely the bigger picture is the important one here.
