Heat is turned up to reopen Cairngorms National Park's busiest campsite
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No stone will be left unturned in the bid to reopen the busiest campsite in the strath, Scotland’s rural economy and tourism secretary has vowed, amid huge concerns the impact its continuing closure will have.
Camping in the Forest has said that Glenmore Campsite will not resume operations until Spring 2021 following the Covid-19 lockdown.
The decision has been widely condemned with local residents fearing it will lead to Loch Morlich and the surrounding area becoming a dumping ground for litter and worse from the many scores of thousands of visitors left with few public facilities.
It has also come as a crushing blow to the campsite’s staff and local businesses trying to recover from the impact of coronavirus.
Fergus Ewing, who is also local MSP for Strathspey, has branded the decision by CiTF to keep all their campsites closed for the remainder of the year as ‘totally unacceptable’.
Scottish Ministers own Scotland’s national forests and land, with Forestry and Land Scotland managing them, but they lease three campsites including Glenmore to CiTF whch is owned by the Camping and Caravanning Club.
The other sites are at Cashel and Cobleland, both by Loch Lomond.
FLS is deeply concerned and is exploring options to overturn the decision.
Mr Ewing said the closures will have a significant impact on local businesses, the environment and staff.
He said: “At a time when tourism is so important to Scotland, this decision by CiTF is not acceptable in any way shape or form. We will soon be asking tourism businesses to open up again and I would expect CiTF to do the same."
Highlands MSP Edward Mountain (Scottish Conservatives) is angered by the decision too.
He said: “I have written to the owners imploring them to open up the camp site to protect this area from being swamped with uncontrolled camping and the issues which go with that.
“What is worrying is that people are going to turn up from all over from tomorrow and local residents are going to be left with refuse and human excrement.”
FLS said it is currently exploring all of the legal avenues available.
One Glenmore resident, who did not want to be named, said: “The whole village is angry that the operators have not come to see the situation for themselves.
“People have got to respect our countryside: we can not have people wild camping by the beach and doing their business in the woods.”
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