Item6Appendix4bGeneral20180177DET

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Agenda Item 6 Appendix 4B 24/05/2019

AGENDA ITEM 6

APPENDIX 4B

2018/0177/DET

REP­RES­EN­TIONS GENERAL

giv­ing nature rspb a home Scot­land RSPB Scotland

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

By Email: planning@​cairngorms.​co.​uk

Date: 11^th June 2018

2018/0177/DET | Renov­a­tion and erec­tion of exten­sion to build­ing | Ptar­mig­an Res­taur­ant Glen­more Aviemore

Dear Sir/​Madam

As you will be aware RSPB Scot­land is the area’s neigh­bour­ing landown­er. Our Aber­nethy Reserve is the second largest nature reserve owned by the RSPB, and its spec­tac­u­lar scenery and wild­life make it very pop­u­lar with our mem­bers and the wider public.

I write on behalf of RSPB Scot­land in response to the above applic­a­tion for the renov­a­tion and erec­tion of exten­sion to the Ptar­mig­an Res­taur­ant on Cairngorm Moun­tain. Our main con­cern with regard to the pro­pos­al relate to its poten­tial effects on the nearby Spe­cial Pro­tec­tion Areas (SPAs) and Spe­cial Areas of Con­ser­va­tion (SACs), which are pro­tec­ted by European and Scots law.

We are reas­sured to see that the major­ity of our pre­vi­ous com­ments have been incor­por­ated into the mit­ig­a­tion plan for the devel­op­ment. RSPB has no objec­tion to the applic­a­tion but wishes to make the fol­low­ing comments.

Increased vis­it­or num­bers We pre­vi­ously raised con­cerns over the increased num­bers of vis­it­ors to Cairngorm Moun­tain res­ult­ing from a devel­op­ment which has a great­er emphas­is on sum­mer­/all-year round activ­it­ies com­pared to the cur­rent focus on winter recre­ation. We are pleased to see that Nat­ur­al Retreats are still com­mit­ted to the ​‘closed sys­tem’ which is para­mount to ensur­ing the con­tin­ued pro­tec­tion of the spe­cial wild­life and hab­it­ats of the Cairngorm Plateau.

The plan to extend view­ing plat­forms will enable more vis­it­ors to exper­i­ence being out­doors on the moun­tain than pre­vi­ously how­ever the applic­a­tion does not include any inform­a­tion regard­ing estim­ated changes in vis­it­or num­bers and so it is dif­fi­cult to con­clude that this will reduce pres­sure on the ​‘closed sys­tem’. Changes in vis­it­or num­bers and infra­struc­ture need to be reflec­ted in the vis­it­or man­age­ment plan.

North Scot­land Tel 01463 715000 Office Etive House Beech­wood Park Fax 01408 715315 Inverness IV2 3BW rspb​.org​.uk Bird­Life INTER­NA­TION­AL The RSPB is part of Bird­Life Inter­na­tion­al, a part­ner­ship of con­ser­va­tion organ­isa­tions work­ing to give nature a home around the world. Pat­ron: Her Majesty the Queen Chair­man of Coun­cil: Pro­fess­or Steve Ormerod, FIEEM Pres­id­ent: Mir­anda Krestovnikoff Chair­man, Com­mit­tee for Scot­land: Pro­fess­or Colin Gal­braith Dir­ect­or, RSPB Scot­land: Anne McCall Region­al Dir­ect­or: George Camp­bell The RSPB is a registered char­ity in Eng­land and Wales 207076, in Scot­land SCO37654

giv­ing nature rspb a home Scot­land Increased bird strikes RSPB Scot­land The design includes a large amount of new glass and a high glass tower. We pre­vi­ously raised con­cerns over the poten­tial for a large increase in the num­ber of bird strikes to the win­dows of the build­ing, includ­ing those by rare and vul­ner­able bird spe­cies. Giv­en the great sens­it­iv­ity of bird pop­u­la­tions on the plat­eau we feel this could be very detrimental.

The use of anti-glare, or anti-reflect­ive film or glass is recom­men­ded in the applic­a­tion as suit­able mit­ig­a­tion to reduce the occur­rence of bird strikes how­ever there is no detailed inform­a­tion provided regard­ing the meas­ures and design prin­ciples con­sidered determ­in­ing this meas­ure to be the most effect­ive form of mit­ig­a­tion. We would have liked to see fur­ther inform­a­tion regard­ing the designs and meas­ures con­sidered to be reas­sured that this mit­ig­a­tion will be sufficient.

After the selec­tion and install­a­tion of new glass is com­plete the long-term mon­it­or­ing of bird strikes will be essen­tial so that addi­tion­al or altern­at­ive meas­ures can be adop­ted should a prob­lem arise.

Should CNPA be minded to grant plan­ning per­mis­sion, we recom­mend that suit­able con­di­tions are imposed, cov­er­ing the fol­low­ing requirements:

1. The use of suit­able anti-glare film/​glass to reduce birds col­lid­ing with the building’s win­dows and long-term mon­it­or­ing of bird strikes to determ­ine effect­ive­ness of mitigation.
2. Mit­ig­a­tion regard­ing vehicle move­ments to pre­vent dis­turb­ance to the black grouse lek adja­cent to access.
3. Pro­vi­sion of screen­ing shades to arti­fi­cial lights used dur­ing con­struc­tion to reduce dis­turb­ance to breed­ing birds with­in the vicin­ity of works.
4. Cov­er­ing and cap­ping all exposed pipes and holes when unat­ten­ded to pre­vent trap­ping of ground nest­ing birds and their chicks.
5. Fen­cing around con­struc­tion areas to reduce mor­tal­ity of ground nest­ing birds and hares.

RSPB Scot­land would be happy to meet the developer and CNPA on site to dis­cuss mit­ig­a­tion meas­ures, should plan­ning per­mis­sion be granted.

If you regard any fur­ther cla­ri­fic­a­tion on the above, please do not hes­it­ate to con­tact us.

Yours Faith­fully,

Phil Dowl­ing Assist­ant Con­ser­va­tion Officer, North Scotland.

North Scot­land Tel 01463 715000 Office Etive House Beech­wood Park Fax 01408 715315 Inverness IV2 3BW rspb​.org​.uk Bird­Life INTER­NA­TION­AL The RSPB is part of Bird­Life Inter­na­tion­al, a part­ner­ship of con­ser­va­tion organ­isa­tions work­ing to give nature a home around the world. Pat­ron: Her Majesty the Queen Chair­man of Coun­cil: Pro­fess­or Steve Ormerod, FIEEM Pres­id­ent: Mir­anda Krestovnikoff Chair­man, Com­mit­tee for Scot­land: Pro­fess­or Colin Gal­braith Dir­ect­or, RSPB Scot­land: Anne McCall Region­al Dir­ect­or: George Camp­bell The RSPB is a registered char­ity in Eng­land and Wales 207076, in Scot­land SCO37654

giv­ing nature rspb a home Scot­land RSPB Scotland

North Scot­land Office Etive House Beech­wood Park Tel 01463 715000 Fax 01408 715315 Inverness IV2 3BW rspb​.org​.uk Bird­Life INTER­NA­TION­AL The RSPB is part of Bird­Life Inter­na­tion­al, a part­ner­ship of con­ser­va­tion organ­isa­tions work­ing to give nature a home around the world. Pat­ron: Her Majesty the Queen Chair­man of Coun­cil: Pro­fess­or Steve Ormerod, FIEEM Pres­id­ent: Mir­anda Krestovnikoff Chair­man, Com­mit­tee for Scot­land: Pro­fess­or Colin Gal­braith Dir­ect­or, RSPB Scot­land: Anne McCall Region­al Dir­ect­or: George Camp­bell The RSPB is a registered char­ity in Eng­land and Wales 207076, in Scot­land SCO37654