In pictures: The Cairngorm creepy crawlies that may threaten 1,500 homes plan
The gallows spider with prey
NEW species of wildlife, and rare specemins, including the gallows spider, have been found on sites earmarked for development in the Cairngorms National Park and campaigners say the discoveries add to evidence already gathered to mount a legal challenge this month to the plans.
An action will be heard in the Court of Session from 10-13 January against the adoption of a plan by the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) which includes hundreds of new homes over the next six years.
Campaigners fear there will be overdevelopment in the park which could harm a range of birds, animals, insects and plants.
The action raised by the Cairngorms Campaign, the Scottish Campaign for National Parks and the Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group (BSCG) said the authority acted “irrationally and/or unreasonably” in not following the recommendations of a local inquiry reporter who examined the plan.
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland has also backed an appeal to help finance the action, expected to cost about £50,000.
Residents reacted furiously when CNPA approved a 300-house development in Kingussie in an area said to be used by red squirrels and possibly wildcat.
The authority also backed a 1,500 house development at An Camus Mor in Aviemore which conservationists say is a habitat for otters, badgers and also possibly wildcat.
In its legal case, the three groups also highlight sites earmarked for housing at Kingussie (300 houses), Nethy Bridge (40) and Carrbridge (117).
Local campaigners say this year rare wild gallows spiders have been found at School Wood, Nethybridge, along with small mesh-weaver spiders. Conservationists have also discovered or re-discovered the mason bee, the blaeberry or mountain bee and Caledonian pinewood hoverflies, as well as otters and red squirrels at the site.
At the An Camus Mor site, they say they found a slender groundhopper, generally unknown in the north of Britain, a violet oil beetle, blue rove beetle, a hieroglyphic ladybird, one of eight kinds of ladybird on the site, and the lemon or slender slug.
Gus Jones, convenor of BSCG, said: “There is a wealth of wildlife put unnecessarily at risk from this deeply damaging plan.”
Chris Cathrine, conservation assistant (Scotland), for Buglife, the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, added: “The Cairngorms National Park is the most important area for invertebrates in Scotland, and perhaps even the UK. Despite this, many of these species are under threat by development.
“An Camas Mor is a rich site for invertebrates. The proposed housing development threatens many species of invertebrates with local extinction, and could contribute towards national extinctions of species such as the endangered Caledonian sac-spider which is almost entirely restricted to just a handful of sites in the Cairngorms National Park.”
Hamish Trench, CNPA’s strategic land use director, said:“The National Park needs sustainable development, and our Local Plan guides development to the most suitable places, ensuring that the things that make the Cairngorms a special place are conserved.”
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Comments
There are 23 comments to this article
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Mark Bishop
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 03:39 PM@ 4, 5 Vistaero. You have hit the nail right on the head. VERMIN, yes man is the vermin. All the drunks, homeless, dregs of society are vermin. Oh wait I am really being too harsh on only one section of society, let me include the whole Homo Sapiens species. Consider this, Man, as a species is a virus. Multiplies, moves in to an area, overgrazes, poisons, depletes, strips and trashes an area, then moves on to do the same all over the planet. Too many people on this planet as it is taking up too much space. The animals have to have somewhere to live and man has no right to take that away from them. Man should (in theory) have the intelligence to use contraception and sterilisation to control his numbers and in this country thank heavens for people who say NO to new build. As for Aviemore looking a bit the worse for wear, absolutely no reason at all not to knock some things down and rebuild them in a more swiss chalet type fashion, a bit like Vail in Colorado USA. Twee, touristy and horribly expensive.
Digory
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 08:37 PM17. Slioch I have the impression that what has been happening - to some extent is a Zoning - some other areas - designated in area plans 2000 - for managed decline - with the creation of public service jobs for redeployment of other groups using the General Population as groups to be managedused and feeding into businesses in areas such as Dumfries and Highland and specific local areas designated for special developments.
strange fruit
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 11:10 PMAll over the world people are cutting down trees, killing animals and wildlife and pouring concrete, digging holes and mining. In a few years there'll be no beauty and wildlife left. I never thought I would see it in beautiful Scotland what with Donald Trump and his golf course (I ask you) and now this. Beware Scotland, beware.
Slioch.
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 06:50 PM#17 Slioch. ... Woops. Should have been, "a rate of increase of 30% in those eleven years"
Ron Greer
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 04:35 PMNow I wonder if this kind of discussion is going on in Yellowstone, Denali, Padjulanta, Tatra or Borgefjell? We do not have real national parks in Scotland. What we have is an oxymoronic farce offering a dichotomy of expectation that cannot be met. Evident in the psychology of the political classes including the SNP, is the old 'wasteland ripe for development' attitude. The Highlands are wasted lands ready for rehabilitation, both in terms of flora-fauna and human communities, but the current model offered is not going to do this. Jim Crumley, author and naturalist, wrote a feature article in 1992 in this paper and he predicted how the model we now have would not work in Scoptland. Sadly he was all too correct.
NorthernMonkeys
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 03:50 PMGotta say Aviemore is a bit of a hole at the moment. That said these new housing developments will be relatively close to the A9 so not really impacting the greater beauty of the area - so i believe.
Slioch.
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 02:38 PM#16 clubplayer thinks Aviemore "is continually being denied the opportunity to grow" and Rosieross thinks "the highlands have been cleared too often." .................. What nonsense! In the period 2000 - 2010 inclusive the number of houses in Aviemore increased from 1544 to 2013, a rate of increase of 23% in those eleven years. No other similar sized town in Scotland increased at such a rate. ..... Badenoch and Strathspey generally has the highest rate of growth of houses and population of any rural district in Scotland.
ClubPlayer
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 01:00 PMIt is clear that people and certainly growing communities are not welcome in the Cairngorm national park. The many quangos involved and the various external pressure groups clearly don't want any growth of communities and this is borne out time and time again by ridiculous planning constraints. The redevelopment shambles that is Aviemore being the absolute case in point. It should be a beautiful Alpine style resort but instead is an aging new town which is continually being denied the opportunity to grow, redovelop and build on its current success.
rosieross
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 10:39 AMFor crying out loud! I don't believe it....... the highlands have been cleared too often. The indigenous people have been forced to leave too often and now for spiders who don't even belong there. Why should the highlands be kept for people who only visit it once a year at the most?
sergiesmax1
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 09:34 AMNiddrie Nick you are 100% correct with you on this one.Build your houses in the medows or the gardens but leave the gorms alone.Oh and who is going to live there the unemployed or the low or badly paid I think not.This plan is not about the common man its about makeing money and these houses will not be affordable for the likes of us.
Ron Greer
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 09:04 AM8 This gap site problem is one of the reasons why we need Land Rental Value collection to replace income tax etc as the basis of public revenue
Ron Greer
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 09:00 AMAye #1, it's amazing what goes on in Glen Gerrymander and Strath Chicanery and did you know that the highest hill in the park is to be renamed Ben Oxymoron in honour of the national park not being owned by the nation?
george toot toot
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 08:56 AMWhy are so many new houses required? For whom?
ken calder
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 07:55 AMspecemins - spelling in a so called quality newspaper for goodness sake!
Hector the Lessor
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 07:44 AMAh cheez Vistaero we are human beings not supermen. Two thousand years ago Christ declared that the poor will always be amongst us, and he was right. Can you argue that the human race has not tried to the best of their ability to ease this problem? Although the religious orders look to Christ to be reborn and solve our problems, strictly speaking if he did turn up he would be taken into custody, prescribed medication, and given a pension. I would think that his last words before he left would be "you have the ability, just try and make the effort, eh!"
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