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Fire management byelaws to be considered for Cairngorms National Park





The massive wildfire at Cannich which broke out at the start of the summer.
The massive wildfire at Cannich which broke out at the start of the summer.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority has agreed to go down the route of looking at bringing in fire management byelaws in the strath and wider region.

Members agreed at their latest boarding meeting at Grantown headquarters to look at the options available which could include a ban on open fires and barbecues outside of private curtilages and even within at times of high fire risk.

It comes after stark reminders close to home this summer over the rising threat and cost of wildfire as a result of climate change.

The RSPB released video of a monster wildfire that devastated an area of their Corrimony Nature Reserve bigger than the surface area of Loch Ness and which was visible from space.

The huge blaze at the start of the summer consumed an area near Cannich measuring roughly 64 square kilometres – and is thought to be the biggest wildfire in the UK’s history.

This was followed a few weeks later by another major wildfire by Daviot which came close to people’s homes south of Inverness and was described as a ‘close call’ by eyewitnesses.

Loch Morlich and the surrounding area has been identified at being at particular risk because of people ignoring the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and starting open fires when and where barred, even cutting branches from the woods to fuel the flames.

Scene of devastation... some of the aftermath of the Cannich fire. Picture: Callum Mackay.
Scene of devastation... some of the aftermath of the Cannich fire. Picture: Callum Mackay.

Murray Ferguson, the CNPA’s director of planning and place, cautioned: “The changing climate will make wildfire risk considerably higher in the future.

“This year there has already been a number of incidents in the national park and there have been large wildfires just outside the park at Daviot and Cannich.

“The park authority has also received expressions of community concern on this issue (from Glenmore).”

The CNPA is work on creating a park wide ‘integrated wildfire management plan’ with the aims including minimise the risk of wildfires and responding effectively to wildfires that do break-out.

Any fire management byelaws could form part of this or stand alone and eventually see offenders hit with fixed penalty fines if a proposal to give this new power to Scotland’s two national parks comes about.

Park chief executive Grant Moir told the meeting they were looking for a ‘general steer’ from board members on whether to pursue the possibility of the new byelaws.

He explained: “Putting into place any byelaw is long – it is not going to be quick.”

Mr Moir added: “The earliest this could be put in place is some time in 2025 and not for next summer.”

He also warned there would be significant financial and time implications for staff: “If you have byelaws you need to enforce them; there is no point in having byelaws if you do not.”

CNPA board member Bill Lobban told colleagues: 'We must take the public with us'.
CNPA board member Bill Lobban told colleagues: 'We must take the public with us'.

During the debate, member Bill Lobban said: “We need to be careful that we take the public with us and one of the options asks us whether fires within curtilages within your own properties should be considered.

“As soon as you do that there will be a universal outcry from the public. We need to be very, very careful about what we do.”

Mr Lobban also advised: “If we go down the route that requires input (for prosecutions) from the Procurator Fiscal then this is dead in the water...

“Things like this just end up disappearing.”

And he added: “The resource implications are gigantic.”

Fellow board member Russell Jones said: “We need to listen to local people and need to be seen to be doing something... we should at least get it up and running.”

Lauren MacCallum, CNPA community representative for the Aviemore and Glenmore area, said: “We need to look at byelaws.

“I think that if we have another poor winter and dry spring and we come into May as we did this year and we have not looked at this then we will be absolutely decimated.”

There was unanimous support at the meeting for CNPA officers to proceed with investigating fire management byelaws and return with further details and proposals for consultation.

Park convener Sandy Bremner stressed: “Critically, this is not a commitment to pursue byelaws.”

The estimated timescale is 10 months to one year from any formal approvement by the CNPA assuming that no inquiry is needed and the process is seamless.

If a decision to proceed is taken at the CNPA’s next board meeting in November then the earliest the byelaws would come into effect would be early 2025.


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