Close run thing on Cairngorm closed-system
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A poll run online by the Strathy on whether the closed-system at the top of the Cairngorm funicular should be scrapped revealed respondents are divided pretty much down the middle.
The vote was run for a week following on from a front page article on March 4.
The poll simply asked if the closed-system should be scrapped: yes or no.
There were a total of 264 votes cast with 139 (53 per cent) saying it should not and 125 people (47 per cent) believing it is time for the restriction to go.
All the signatories to controversial restrictions in place for nearly 20 years at the top of the Cairngorm funicular are finally prepared to review the exit constraints, the Strathy revealed in the original article.
Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and CairnGorm Mountain Ltd signed a visitor management plan (VMP) legal agreement including the closed system as a precursor to the mountain railway opening in December 2001.
It bars passengers on the mountain railway from leaving the Ptarmigan station outwith the ski season in order to protect nearby areas on the Cairngorm plateau designated under the European Habitats and Birds Directives.
But the arrangement has been pinpointed by some as a key reason why projected visitor numbers for the attraction have failed to live up to expectation.
With a new masterplan setting out the next 25 years for the resort to be unveiled soon by owner HIE, there will be renewed focus on the closed system. And there are indications some major changes could be afoot.
The issue had been raised at Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust’s virtual AGM with HIE revealing the the parties were open to a review but with caveats in place to protect the nearby areas designated originally by the EU for their importance for habitat for wildlife – and birds in particular – on the Cairngorm plateau.
