Covid-19 savings to be redirected to fund rangers and recovery cashpot in Cairngorms National Park
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The Covid-19 crisis has led to an anticipated underspend of more than £250,000 for the Cairngorms National Park Authority for the current financial year.
Members of the CNPA board are now being recommended to use this money instead to boost a Green Recovery Plan to help the national park to recover from the impacts of coronavirus.
Savings identified include the Cairngorms Nature Big Weekend being replaced by a virtual event (£17,000); ranger grants not payable because of furlough (£16,000); curtailment of a visitor survey (£2,000) and reductions in travel, subsistence, accommodation and meeting cost savings due to the lockdown (£11,000).
Along with 2020/21 operational plan savings already made, CNPA finance staff have identified a total of £271,000 which can be re-allocated in the current financial year.
Board members will be asked to agree to award £266,000 to the Green Recovery Plan which will also be outlined at Friday's meeting of the authority via teleconferencing.
They are also recommended to use a small part of the funds to further extend the proposed Glenmore multi-user route should capital funding be secured for the project from the Scottish Government.
This will make the area safer for pedestrians in and around the popular Loch Morlich beauty spot.
David Cameron, the CNPA's corporate services director, states in the papers going to Friday's board meeting: "While the months of April and May are typically light on commitment of resources against the new operational plans, this position has been significantly exacerbated this year as the authority operated remote working for all staff and wider Covid-19 business continuity responses throughout the period to date of the current financial year.
"Our policy development and project planning operations have continued effectively, as have our creditor payment processes.
"However, there has been an understandable and expected downturn in the level of financial transactions and budget commitments made in the period of the year to date."
The money to be redirected to the Green Recovery Plan, if approved, will be used to deliver a seasonal ranger service from the end of June to the end of October at a cost of £126,000 to potentially provide four staff in the strath and three staff in Aberdeenshire.
Popular beauty spots in the strath - most notably Loch Morlich - and elsewhere in Scotland have already suffered issues with littering and fouling despite travel restrictions of five miles still being in place because of lockdown.
Finance chiefs also recommend that £100,000 goes to the establishment of a Cairngorms Recovery Fund to support essential community and business recovery actions where there is no other funds.
The third element is £40,000 recommended to support the development of the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Dark Skies Observatory Project.
Project leaders are aiming to secure funding in the region of £1.8 million to construct the observatory and planetarium as a significant tourism asset for the area.
The CNPA has received funding of £5m for the 2020/21 financial year which was fully in line with expectations built into the 2020/21 budget approved by the board at its meeting in March.
Friday's meeting will be available for the public to view online.
