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Protesters say consent ‘sneaked’ through
By Alan Crawford
FOLLOW the yellow bin lorries from Fort William and they’ll
soon bring you to the small crofting township of Duisky, on
the southern shores of Loch Eil.
“Like wasps to a honey pot”, is how one local
woman describes the constant stream of trucks that rumble
past her house to Duisky landfill site, in the shadow of Ben
Nevis.
She and others are now preparing for a mighty swarm of lorries
after Highland Council approved an application to expand the
site from 2.5 acres to 40 acres, as big as the total landfill
space currently owned by the council . The site, once meant
to be temporary, has now been granted an operational lifespan
of 35 years.
Fears are growing that Duisky is to become a dumping ground
for much of Highland’s waste. T hat fear is translating
into an election issue for candidates in the redrawn Ross,
Skye and Lochaber constituency, including Liberal Democrat
leader Charles Kennedy.
Opponents have hastily organised a campaign and, although
it is primarily a local authority matter, campaigners are
asking MSPs and general election candidates for support in
fighting a development which, they argue, will blight a magnificent
landscape, cause a foul stench, affect tourism, clog up the
single track road to Duisky and possibly contaminate the loch.
The application is now with Scottish Executive ministers,
and campaigners, advised by Friends of the Earth, are lobbying
the Executive prior to a decision expected next month.
Duisky, from the Gaelic Dubh Uisge, meaning black water,
lies less than 10 miles from Glenfinnan, where Bonnie Prince
Charlie landed in 1745. Locals upset at the landfill site
are now plotting their own rebellion.
“It’s just not acceptable,” said leading
opponent Linda Taylor, who has a prime view of the landfill
from her kitchen window. Taylor, a retired art and Gaelic
medium teacher, has lobbied Charles Kennedy over the site,
which she described as, “like a big abscess in the ground”
.
Kennedy told the Sunday Herald several Lochaber residents
had been in touch with him to voice their concerns, and called
on Highland Council to take forward its waste management strategy
to substantially improve recycling, “as a matter of
urgency”, in order to reduce the need for landfill sites.
The site at Duisky lies on common grazing within crofting
land, and planning permission was originally granted in 1990
to dispose of builders’ rubble there. Since then, according
to Taylor, it has “grown and grown” until the
40-acre planning application was “sneaked through”
in February, largely unnoticed by locals. The application
attracted just one objection, from the estate within which
Duisky lies.
Taylor, who maintains the present site is visible from the
top of Aonach Mhor, also has fears it could be used for an
incinerator which Highland Council is jointly planning with
Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils at an as-yet unspecified
location. Highland is compelled to put 27% of its waste through
a waste-to-energy plant by 2010.
Highland Council has an ongoing problem with waste disposal
after receiving a fraction of the money for recycling it was
seeking from the Executive. Inverness’s landfill site
closed in 2003 and the city’s waste is currently taken
by road to Peterhead. The council has four landfill sites:
in Portree, Caithness, Aviemore and a small one at Kilchoan
which is due to close shortly.
“I’m certain [the council] is looking for one
big site for the whole Highlands,” said Taylor, who
recognises the need for a dump. “But,” she adds,
“not a huge thing like this.”
The council denies it plans to bring waste from Inverness
and says Duisky, which is a private site not owned by the
council, will handle waste only from Fort William and Lochaber.
Planning consent, however, states the site will not be limited
to waste from within the Lochaber area.
Green Party candidate David Jardine argues that means campaigners’
fears are well- justified. “The planning permission
allows for waste from outside Lochaber to come in. A planning
permission that permits something usually means it will eventually
happen.”
Anne Scoular, a doctor who works in Glasgow in the week but
lives, and votes, in Lochaber, has written to Executive ministers
about Duisky. She is concerned by the scale of the development,
but also by the fact it “flies in the face” of
government policies on reducing landfill sites in favour of
recycling.
“Fort William is selling itself as the outdoor capital
of the UK, as a lovely environment to enjoy the natural surroundings,
so having a big landfill site really doesn’t seem to
fit with this strategy. They really need to get their act
together and not have big truckloads of waste wending their
way along Loch Eil.”
The existing landfill site at Duisky sits up on the hill
behind the loch and is reached by a single-track road, which
is currently being resurfaced. The site’s buildings
and lorries are visible from across the loch on the main A830
Road To The Isles, as well as from the railway line to Mallaig
made famous by the sequence in the Harry Potter movies filmed
at Glenfinnan viaduct. Landfill site operators Locheil Logistics
Ltd, which employs 15 people between the site and an associated
haulage business, could not be contacted yesterday.
Dr Michael Foxley, a local councillor and vice-convener of
Highland Council, said he “stopped breathing”
when he heard of the application nine months ago. He bemoaned
the fact the current campaigners hadn’t objected when
it went to the area planning committee in February, and pointed
out he had wrung concessions from the applicant, notably a
stipulation that the development was phased, thus limiting
the amount of waste deposited at any time. These concessions
convinced the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to remove
an objection.
According to Friends of the Earth Scotland, Highland Council
was the third worst council area in Scotland for recycling
in 2002-2003, managing to recycle less than 4% of total waste.
Orkney managed almost 40%.
Dr Colin Clerk, Highland Council’s head of waste management,
said Highland managed 8% recycling last year. Its targets
had to be reduced after it received only £49 million
of the £290m it requested from the Executive to help
with recycling. Highland households produce some 20,000 tonnes
of waste a year. “I’m afraid we have got to do
something with it,” he said.
The SNP’s Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn
and Lochaber, said he was “extremely concerned”
much of the waste could end up at Duisky, and called for a
public local inquiry . “If they’re going to take
a big lump out of Scotland, people’s views should be
aired.”
Meanwhile, Linda Taylor is contemplating her next move, after
badgering politicians at every level. “I don’t
think they knew where Duisky was”, she said. “But
they know now.”
24 April 2005
The latest (sixth) edition of the Cicerone Press winter climbing
guide to Ben Nevis & Glencoe is now in the shops. Signed
copies are available from alan@westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk
£16.00 (inc P&P) made payable to Alan Kimber at
Calluna, Heathercroft, Fort William, Inverness-shire, PH33
6RE.
Local communities in the Highlands are to benefit from a
£1.2 million project, aimed at creating a sustainable
network of low level pathways for the enjoyment of local residents
and visitors alike. Five access officers have been engaged
by The Highland Access Project for three years to refurbish,
waymark and promote 1,300 kilometres of existing paths and
create 10 kilometres of new paths.
Key criteria for projects include initiatives that are socially
inclusive, meet the needs of local communities, attract visitors
to Highland and achieve value for money, in the long term,
through effective management plans. The project has also been
established to implement part of the Highlands and Islands
Access Strategy and to identify access issues arising from
the forthcoming Land Reform and Access legislation. Partners
are The Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Highlands
and Islands Enterprise and the Paths for All Partnership.
The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund has
given a grant of £409,000 to take forward the project.
The access officers are David Barclay, Caithness and Sutherland;
Cath Clark, Ross and Cromarty; John Hutcheson, Lochaber and
Skye and Lochalsh; Saranne Bish (Repeat Bish), Nairn, Badenoch
and Strathspey; and David Andrews, Inverness, who is also
the project manager. The project office will be based at The
Highland Councils Planning and Development Service, Glenurquhart
Road, Inverness, where Carolyn Taylor will provide administrative
support.
The first phase of the project will see the officers liaising
with landowners, land managers and communities that are keen
to support the development of access in their area or where
there are identified needs and benefits. In each of the areas,
local advisory groups will be established to ensure participation
in the development of project plans. Councillor David Green,
Convener of The Highland Council, said: The Highlands has
an outstanding access resource that brings considerable income
to the area. The project aims to establish a multi-user path
network, not solely for those who already enjoy walking, cycling
or horse riding, but also for those who do not normally see
themselves as path users. "By co-ordinating the activities
of key public agencies and with local area representation,
the project team will be delivering and promoting a high quality,
managed countryside access resource that is well defined,
protected, accessible and represents a sustainable asset for
future generations." Dr Jim Hunter, Chairman of Highlands
and Islands Enterprise, said: "We are very pleased to
be involved with this project along with our partners - The
Highland Council, SNH and the Paths for All Partnership.
There are hundreds of miles of footpaths in the Highlands
and therefore raising the awareness of these for the benefit
of local people and visitors alike is very important. The
paths network provides a valuable recreational amenity which
further underlines the quality of life in the Highlands as
well as bringing millions of pounds each year into the economy
in terms of the number of visitors it attracts. Setting the
scene for the forthcoming access legislation, the paths network
will open up the area to a much wider spectrum of users, especially
those less able to access the countryside.
Dr Jeff Watson, Scottish Natural Heritage North Areas Director,
said: "SNH welcomes this superb example of partnership
working which will give immediate and very practical benefits
for people in the Highlands. Improved access has multiple
benefits, for natural heritage, for human health and by providing
tangible economic opportunities through enhanced visitor provision."
Magnus Magnusson, Chairman of the Paths for All Partnership,
said: "We are very excited about the opportunities that
the Highland Access Project will deliver for walking, horse
riding and cycling in the Highlands. As well as the benefits
for users, we believe well planned and managed path networks
can help landowners to manage access and will bring wider
tourism and health benefits for local communities."
Provided by: The Highland Council
 I
have started pre-placing a good stock of food, camping mats,
stoves, pots and pans, plus a large nylon tarpaulin at the
bivouac site I use when doing a two day traverse of the main
Black Cuillin ridge on the Isle of Skye. This reduces the
amount of effort required to undertake what is without doubt
the most taxing ridge traverse in the British Isles. Even
with this cache of equipment the trip is very hard work, but
it does reduce the weight of the rucsac considerably. The
tarpaulin means that any rain showers that go through overnight
do not seriously affect the outcome. In the past, rain overnight
has often led to abandoning the outing.
Further details on the Scottish
summer section of this site.
As some of you may know there is an ongoing debate as to
the usefulness of cairns and posts as aids to navigation on
Ben Nevis. My own view is that they can provide an extremely
useful addition for folk navigating properly, offering re-assurance
in poor visibility. Copied below are two of my more recent
letters on the subject. Let me know what you think. A recent
letter from one climber is copied below.
Alan,
I have just read your mountaineering matters section on Navigational
Aids on the summit plateau, and thought you may be interested
in a tale.
Early Janruary, mid 80's, myself and climbing partner topped
out of zero gully at 6:30 pm, having had a total epic from
about the third pitch onwards, heavy wet snow avalanches,
spindrift etc (you know what it can be like at time of year).
Well on the summit plateau, visibility about 10 ft, wind
at a guess 100mph+, we couldnt stand up, every time we tried
we were just blown over again. Having been up there 50-60
times, we believed we could find 4 gully, by traversing (actually
crawling) around the rim and counting off gullies. To cut
a long story short, we ended up a long way left of where we
should be and ended up in 5 finger (although we hadnt twigged
where we were) and finally bivvied just above the big icefall
at about 2:00am . The following morning, we descended 5 finger,
by cutting across to a seperated gully line on the true right
bank of 5 finger, and got down that. I ended up in Belford
with frostbitten toes and nipped fingers, my partner was ok
just totally shattered. A luck escape!
We ere not novices but very experianced mountaineers, 10-15
Alpine seasons and a similar number in Scotland each. Scottish
V - VI, E3-4-5, and Alpine TD-ED's. Very used to mountains,
mountain navigation and wild conditions.
So if we could get such a mess, just think of the problems
those hordes who trek up there "because its the biggest"
could get into, even on a "summers day". I fully
support all your comments on navigational aids, across the
plateau, down towards the cmd, and markers at the top of No
4 and prob No 3 gullies.
If you pass this on to the Lochaber Mountain Rescue, please
say thanks, I know they were looking on the wrong side of
the mountain, (assumed we had be avalanched out of the gully),
but still grateful to them for coming out.
Carry on the good works
Alan Moss
Probably before, but certainly since the development of the
summit weather station and hotel on Ben Nevis there has been
a tradition of waymarking and various aids to safety, both
on the high plateau and at lower levels. These have been placed
by mountaineers and local rescue teams, with the blessing
of the Police and the land owners. Indeed British Alcan who
own much of the mountain have often supplied the materials
to be used. This has continued to the present day.
In 1895 James Shearer produced four excellent prints of panoramas
from the summit of Ben Nevis. The westerly aspect from the
summit clearly shows a line of posts and cairns marking the
way towards the ‘Pony Track’.. A later (1935)
SMC guide edited by G.G. Mcphee reproduces these prints and
interestingly states...”inexperienced climbers would
do well not to lose sight of the posts and cairns which direct
the way to the Observatory”...(p 17). He goes on to
say...” In stormy weather even those who know the mountain
best may easily be led astray, as when at Easter 1901 a strong
party descending from the summit, and in spite of compass
observations every fifty yards, failed to strike the true
direction, and in the face of a driving blizzard, eventually
reached Glen Nevis near Polldubh, arriving at Fort William
at a late hour”...(p 18)
There has always been a tradition of mountaineering and rescue
in Fort William and in 1945 the Lochaber Section of the Junior
Mountaineering Club of Scotland was formed and...”its
contributions to mountaineering and rescue on Ben Nevis have
always been high”...(Ben Nevis - Britain’s Highest
Mountain. Ken Crocket. 1986. p 141). Around that time Dr Donald
Duff settled in Fort William and became deeply involved in
mountain rescue and accidents....”Following a fatal
accident on Nevis, Dr Duff oversaw the erection of direction
posts indicating the safe descent route to the Carn Mor Dearg
Arete. Duffs original pair of three-foot wooden posts were
later added to, but only after the terrible accident involving
the cadets”...(Ben Nevis - Crocket. p161). These posts
still provide an essential waymark on the descent towards
the CMD Arete and without them there would be more accidents
in this area of Ben Nevis.
”The obvious surface feature near the summit of Ben
Nevis in winter is the emergency bivouac shelter”...”This
tin shelter is like an ice-box in winter, though it continues
to save lives from the crippling effects of the wind”...(Ben
Nevis - Crocket. p 160). . Two other shelters are situated
on Ben Nevis, one in Coire Leis and one on the west facing
slopes of Carn Dearg NW Lochaber JMCS helped to pay for and
erect the summit shelter and that on Carn Dearg (SMCJ, 1958,
p 296). Some cash was also provided by the ‘People’
newspaper. Originally the summit shelter was prone to being
covered by snow, so it was moved to its current location on
the topmost part of the Observatory ruins in the mid 70’s
by instructors and students from Loch Eil Centre. More recently
it has been slightly enlarged and improved by Lochaber MRT.
The latest shelter being put in place with the help of the
RAF. Originally the shelters were erected in response to fatalities
involving lost climbers who died of mountain exposure. To
find the summit shelter in a full blown blizzard is very re-assuring.
In the 1960’s (21.6.64 & 5.7.64) Hamish MacInnes
asked John Hinde of the Kinloss MRT to help in placing the
abseil posts at the top of the southern corner of Coire Leis.
Members of the Glencoe MRT plus some from Lochaber and members
of the TA were helped by an RAF helicopter from Leuchers to
transport materials and place seven posts. Three of these
posts remain standing at the moment. Although the slope is
fairly straightforward in descent these days if modern crampons
and axes are used properly. At the time of placing the poles
they helped tired climbers considerably, when faced with a
long descent cutting steps. The poles can at times prove useful,
especially in locating the correct descent into the corrie
in poor visibility.
Also of interest here is the warning sign which was placed
at the top Glen Nevis car park to tell folk of the potentially
serious nature of the ground near the waterslide slab approximately
three hundred metres higher up into Coire Eoghainn. Two direction
poles with markers were also erected higher up to divert folk
away from the worst sections. According to the SMC statistics,
accidents reduced dramatically in this area following this
action by the Police in consultation with the local rescue
team.
Hamish McInnes who is in favour of marker poles and feels
that they could save lives mentions the time when he was camped
on the summit making a film for two weeks...”We had
bamboo markers from the Red Burn to the summit and they were
a tremendous help. It was interesting to see the number of
late arrivals on the summit during this stay - Casual climbers
- and several parties were saved a cold bivvy due to being
able to follow the markers”...
At the Mountaineering Council of Scotland 1997 A.G.M. it
was suggested by one of the guest speakers (Bob Aitken - Chair
of the Scottish Countryside Activities Council) that Ben Nevis
was a special (unique) case and may need to be treated as
such in relation to waymarking and a host of other factors
effecting Britain’s highest and most popular peak.
Every guide-book published this century to Ben Nevis has
mentioned marker poles and shelters as aids to safety. So
why all the fuss about the current debate to enhance existing
stone cairns whose wooden marker post tops had rotted away.
Until now nobody appears to have questioned the wisdom of
those notable mountaineers and rescuers who placed the previous
markers.
Throughout Europe local communities, climbers, mountain guides,
rescue teams and police are involved in sensible placement
of mountain waymarks aimed at reducing accidents. Why should
we be any different in Britain?
The following from Godefroy Perroux in his new guidebook
to Ben Nevis is of interest..."as blind as bats we faithfully
followed the compass, our only hope of salvation. With frozen,
half-closed eyes glued to the tiny instrument. I saw nothing
ahead. It was Dave who spotted it first: a pole sticking out
of the snow right in line with our course. It was a bamboo
cane complete with illuminated marker tag. A few yards further
on there was another and another. The feeling of relief was
unbelievable. Here was a route to safety, obviously left by
the BBC team. The markers took us swiftly and safely to the
pony track"...
For the past one hundred years or more markers posts have
helped people find their way up and down Britain’s highest
peak. I believe that their contribution to safety has been
immense. Given the large increase in popularity over recent
years of winter climbing in particular, I believe that the
number of accidents on Ben Nevis is small. This is in no small
part due to the navigational marker posts which previous climbers
and rescue teams have placed on the mountain. Alongside of
encouraging good navigation by mountaineers we should also
be supporting the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team in their efforts
towards the sensible replacement of the old posts with modern
material able to withstand the ravages of the Nevis climate.
 Whether
or not you are on a familiar mountain, have you ever experienced
the panic which can grip you, causing uncertainty to set in
during poor visibility? The ground is not quite right, the
angle is wrong and you have been travelling for too long on
your chosen bearing without finding the next landmark.
Chances are if we were honest about it, we would all own up
to being in this state of mind on more than one occasion.
We would also agree that one of the most satisfying and re-assuring
aspects of poor visibility navigation is finding a familiar
landmark, be it natural or otherwise. The flood of relief
in some situations can be immense, leading to more clear and
rational navigational decisions based on knowing you are where
you thought you should be. Equally if you cannot find any
familiar features your navigational senses will remain at
red alert.
How many of those who read this note have found the post
at the top of Number Four Gully or those leading down towards
the Carn Mor Dearg Arete on Ben Nevis in filthy white-out
conditions? How many of those same people cannot own up to
having heaved a sigh of relief on finding these comforting
metal landmarks? I don’to think I would be far off the
mark in supposing that the few people who have so far put
pen to paper, or hacksaw to metal condemning the two poles
placed by the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team would have been
thankful to find them also. The life saving summit shelter
(maintained by the L.M.R.T.) will have provided these same
people with welcome respite from the elements as they ponder
on their descent over a welcome hot flask.
Ben Nevis has for many years had a line of cairns which run
straight and true on the current safety bearing from the top
of Gardyloo Gully towards the Red Burn descent. These were
more than likely placed by the workers from the summit weather
station or earlier still last century, to aid way-finding
on and off the summit plateau for tourists, Post Office personnel
delivering mail to the summit hotel or early climbers such
as Norman Collie and company undertaking first ascents, before
spending a night in the hotel and descending the next day.
Navigational techniques and map accuracy have undoubtedly
moved on since these way marks were built. However the cairns
still provide a useful method of route finding to all who
visit Ben Nevis.
During the summer months or seasons with little snow, these
cairns offer very useful way marks in poor visibility for
people using a compass and map properly, or indeed the thousands
who climb the mountain without either map or compass! Unfortunately
during the winter months they can become obliterated by snow
and even if travelling on the correct bearing are impossible
to find. The Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team felt it would be
a good idea to extend the height of two of these important
cairns with metal posts in order to offer at least some extra
certainty to those people confronted with poor visibility,
especially in winter.
In addition to the posts the L.M.R.T. also produced a very
useful map showing the main gully features on the plateau
as well as the exact position of the marker posts. This map
was freely available in Fort William climbing shops. Hundreds
of people also wrote to the team to ask for a copy of the
map.
The decision to place the poles was not taken lightly. All
of the team are mountaineers and love the free wide open spaces
of the high Scottish peaks. Many of them are also members
of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland through their association
with the local climbing club. Some are mountain guides/instructors
and they all enjoy mountaineering at home and abroad, some
to a very high standard. Placing the poles was made from a
standpoint of deep mountain experience and a balanced appreciation
of the mountain ethics involved in their action. These people
know all there is to know about the Scottish hills, and we
should trust their judgement on this matter.
Current feeling from the executive of the MC of S is against
the poles. Recent media attention on the issue suggests wrongly
that the rescue team will not meet with the MC of S. I was
at a meeting in Fort William Police Station between the MC
of S and L.M.R.T. At that meeting the two sides agreed that
the L.M.R.T. would review the situation in a years time. This
has been done and in the light of the substantial amount of
positive letters in favour of the idea received by the L.M.R.T.
the concept of way markers on Scotland’s most visited
summit remains a realistic option in helping to lessen the
amount of lives lost due to navigational error on the Nevis
plateau.
The MC of S quite rightly suggest that training in high mountain
navigation is a way of helping to give people more skill and
confidence in route finding, especially in winter months.
However, training alone will never be enough. Many of the
people who have tragically fallen from the Nevis plateau were
experienced mountaineers who had visited the plateau numerous
times before. I am convinced that some of these poor folk
would have survived if the old line of cairns (especially
above 1300m) had been more clearly marked.
Recent media attention on the subject paints a poor picture
of the L.M.R.T. Letters emanate from a small band of mountaineers,
editors of magazines or officers of mountaineering councils
in influential positions. The impression given by these people
is far from realistic. It’s about time that those who
are in favour of the idea, also wrote to the magazines supporting
this small action taken by the L.M.R.T.
The current issue is about saving lives by making existing
way marks more easily found on the plateau of Scotland’s
most popular peak. It is not the ...”thin end of the
wedge”....it will not....”lead to more deaths”.....it
is not.....”pampering mountaineers”.....it is
not about......”who rules mountaineering”.....and
will not.....”lead to signs all over the Scottish mountains”....All
of these sensational quotes can be attributed to a handful
of people saying the same thing over and over again. It’s
boring to listen to and does not represent a majority view.
I feel strongly that the posts should stay on the Nevis plateau
and would ask anyone else who agrees with me to let the Lochaber
Mountain Rescue Team know their views (c/o Fort William Police
Station, Fort William.). And the next time you visit the plateau
in the summer stick another rock on the line of cairns which
run down bearing 282 deg (grid) from Gardyloo Gully towards
the Red Burn. The higher the better.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in receiving
details of courses or guiding ask them to give me a call.
Take care
Alan Kimber - Fort William Mountain Guide on Ben Nevis for
thirty four years.
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