Approval of zipwire application beggars belief

On May 9 this year Highland Council declared a climate emergency. On December 4, the same council granted permission for a multiple zipwire attraction at Kinlochleven.

I am dismayed that no consideration was given at the council meeting to the wider issue of the implications of allowing a proposal in this location to go ahead.

Local and national opinion, including the Woodland Trust, Mountaineering Scotland and the Ramblers’ Association all expressed reservations.

More than 1,600 people agreed: ‘Kinlochleven is not an amusement park but is part of Scotland’s wild land heritage. Time spent in nature is free for all to enjoy and should not be ruined by a permanent, ugly, expensive structure that will only benefit a small minority.’

Veteran outdoor pursuits authority Cameron McNeish stated via his Twitter account that he is ‘saddened to hear of plans for a zipwire in Kinlochleven ... Kinlochleven’s potential is better than cheap thrills like that’.

Highland councillors granted permission for this development while repeatedly asserting it is ‘difficult to say’ what the impact will be, as it is an ‘unknown quantity’.

Councillor Andrew Baxter referenced his own recent enjoyable family holiday experience on a zipwire and Councillor Carolyn Caddick based her judgement on her own experience of her children’s zipwire in her back garden.

I am flabbergasted our councillors imagine these subjective inanities are relevant to informing the decision-making process.

I am further disappointed that Councillor Baxter, who ‘understands the area particularly well’ and who was at pains to show his awareness of the controversy surrounding this proposal, saw fit to recommend the constraints on operating hours – proposed by Environmental Health to protect the local community – were lifted, thereby giving residents little respite from the noise and disturbance.

Only one councillor raised the issue of the carbon footprint of the development. There was no debate on the carbon emissions which will arise as a result of the 200-plus visitors per day that the developers claim will come to the village and the huge 35-seater all-terrain SUVs that will be carrying them backwards and forwards through the village at 15-minute intervals.

No questions were raised as to how the wires are to be put in place, given that many structures like this drag their cables along the ground before lifting them and attaching them to the towers.

This would have a significant impact on the ancient woodland which the structure will span.

Presumably, this is part of the ‘unknown quantity’ which explore.

Kinlochleven Community Council, the elected body for the village, has remained neutral on the proposal in recognition of the divided opinion surrounding it. However, opponents have been derided, mocked and, in some cases, threatened on social media, with one supporter of the development who holds the council is happy not to