LOAFPaper1_ManagingforVisitors

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM Paper I

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FORUM

Title: Man­aging for Vis­it­ors ²⁰²⁰⁄₂₁

Pre­pared by: Pete Crane- Head of Vis­it­or Services

Pur­pose: To update members

Intro­duc­tion

1. This inform­a­tion paper provides a brief sum­mary of the work part­ner­ship under­taken in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park to encour­age vis­it­ors to have a safe and enjoy­able exper­i­ence as the area opened dur­ing the vari­ous and ongo­ing phases of Cov­id-19 ​‘lock­down’ and ​‘re-open­ing’.

2. Pri­or to the Cov­id-19 pan­dem­ic, the Nation­al Park received around 2 mil­lion vis­its per year, a quarter of them from over­seas. Tour­ism sup­por­ted 29% of the loc­al eco­nomy and 43% of employ­ment. While 2020 vis­it­or num­bers were almost neg­li­gible dur­ing lock­down, the post-lock­down peri­od saw a fairly strong return of domest­ic vis­it­ors. Key coun­tryside sites saw an increase in foot­fall com­pares with pre­vi­ous years, prob­ably driv­en by near res­id­ents. The five loc­al author­it­ies that make up the Nation­al Park, togeth­er with the cit­ies of Aber­deen & Dun­dee com­prise 1.2 mil­lion residents.

Part­ner and Com­munity Engagement

1. In spring 2020 CNPA set up two vis­it­or work­ing groups that con­tin­ue to vir­tu­ally meet fort­nightly to dis­cuss col­lect­ive work and support:-

   a. Cairngorms Tour­ism Emer­gency Response Group com­pris­ing CNPA, Cairngorms Busi­ness Part­ner­ship (CBP), Vis­it Aber­deen­shire, Moray Spey­side, Vis­it Scot­land, Loc­al Author­it­ies, High­lands and Island Enter­prise b. Man­aging for People Part­ners a wide ran­ging group includ­ing pub­lic private and third sec­tor land man­agers, LA’s, tour­ism industry and Police Scotland

2. CBP and CNPA have hos­ted quarterly vir­tu­al meet­ings (May, Aug and Dec 2020, and March 2021) to update and engage with the fol­low­ing groups:-

   a. Loc­al Author­ity Coun­cilors b. Com­munity Coun­cilors C. Residents

3. CNPA has also par­ti­cip­ated in spe­cif­ic com­munity interest and work­ing groups when asked includ­ing; New­ton­more Com­munity Coun­cil and Mar Area Partnership.

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM Paper I

1. CNPA and CBP have also atten­ded Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment Nation­al Groups includ­ing; Com­mu­nic­a­tions, Infra­struc­ture, Out­door Access, and Stayc­a­tion Red Team — plan­ning for reopen­ing 2021.

2. This engage­ment work has dir­ectly lead to the activ­ity sum­mar­ised below.

Man­aging for Vis­it­ors Plans

1. Live plans for key rur­al areas of the Nation­al Park were pro­duced in 2020 and again this year. These areas identi­fy the key work that needs to be under­taken to encour­age safe, respons­ible and enjoy­able access to the Cairngorms. They are reg­u­larly dis­cussed at part­ner­ship meet­ings. The cur­rent plans are on CNPA web­site Man­aging for Vis­it­ors — Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

Vis­it­or Messaging

1. CBP with CNPA sup­port developed in 2020 the #Cairngorm­s­To­geth­er mes­saging that has four key pos­it­ive requests:

• Under­stand the latest guidance
• Plan ahead
• Adapt to the situation
• Be kind to each other

1. This con­tin­ues to be widely used to encour­age vis­it­ors to safely enjoy the Nation­al Park and is now linked with the nation­al call to #Respect­Pro­tec­tEn­joy.

2. Key areas that vis­it­ors needed to know were open are covered on CNPA and CBP websites

   a. Pub­lic Toi­lets b. Car Parks c. Vis­it­or Attractions

3. Vis­it­or inform­a­tion on what facil­it­ies are open has been fur­ther improved by CBP on the What’s Open page What’s Open in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park (vis​it​cairngorms​.com)

4. Both CNPA and CBP have good com­mu­nic­a­tion with ​‘reg­u­lar vis­it­ors’ to the Nation­al Park but less con­tact with what was per­ceived in 2020 as being both a new, young­er, ​‘near res­id­ent’ audi­ence. In order to engage with this audi­ence a new video on respons­ible camp­ing was com­mis­sioned and ​‘Barry’ a res­id­ent, un-com­mis­sioned, also pro­duced an enga­ging video:

• CNPA fun­ded Cairngorms: The Spir­it of Wild Camp­ing — YouTube
• ‘Barry’ lit­ter (Inde­pend­ent) Don’t be like Barry — YouTube

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM Paper I

1. CNPA and CBP com­mu­nic­a­tions staff meet two weekly, and web­sites and social media are reg­u­larly updated. Nation­al media inter­viewed the team through­out 2020, ini­tially with a pos­it­ive focus on plan­ning for reopen­ing but lat­terly with a focus on minor­ity irre­spons­ible beha­vi­or. Both CBP and CNPA has pur­chased ​‘advert­ising’ on social media to bet­ter engage with the per­ceived new audience.

2. CBP are again devel­op­ing videos pro­mot­ing safe vis­its to the Nation­al Park in 2021, and CNPA has filmed ​‘Make it Yours’ aimed at vis­it­or facing staff. This present­a­tion shares why the Cairngorms is a Nation­al Park, why it is a spe­cial place and what, based on vis­it­or sur­veys, people are likely to want to see and do while vis­it­ing Intro­du­cing the Cairngorms Nation­al Park – Make It Yours — YouTube

3. Dur­ing 2020 an increase in lit­ter­ing, human waste and irre­spons­ible fires was observed and as the Access Author­ity CNPA has redesigned the Tread Lightly in Cairngorms cam­paign to focus on these issues. CNPA has offered Green Recov­ery Fund grant to six com­munit­ies to sup­port lit­ter picks and will be pro­mot­ing Keep Scot­land Beau­ti­ful Sum­mer Clean, May 28^th — June 20^th.

4. Six rur­al areas with­in the Nation­al Park were reg­u­larly over capa­city in 2020 and CNPA con­tin­ues to focus on pro­mot­ing the com­munit­ies around the Nation­al Park, that remained rel­at­ively quiet, and the 666 miles of core paths, many of which are shown on 17 com­munity path leaf­lets: the most pop­u­lar vis­it­or activ­it­ies are sight­see­ing (61%) and going for a short walk (57%).

5. Anti­cip­at­ing an increase in camper­vans CNPA has sup­por­ted CBP in pro­mot­ing areas of the Nation­al Park where camper­vans are safe and wel­come includ­ing waste dis­pos­al sites. Data to ​‘go live’ at the end of April 21.

6. CNPA ren­ted in 2020 two vari­able road signs for Deeside and one for Glen­more to provide up to date inform­a­tion to vis­it­ors to these areas such as ​‘Loch Muick car park full’. These signs have now been pur­chased for 2021. CNPA Rangers are also work­ing with Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil to coordin­ate sev­en day mes­saging on AC vari­able signs.

Ranger Ser­vices

1. In anti­cip­a­tion of increased vis­it­or pres­sures CNPA appoin­ted, trained and man­aged nine sea­son­al rangers in 2020 that were ​‘out there’ encour­aging vis­it­or to have a safe, respons­ible and enjoy­able time from June to Octo­ber. Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment fund­ing has been secured to con­tin­ue this employ­ment from March to Octo­ber 2021 along with a fur­ther five full time CNPA rangers cur­rently being appoin­ted. Annex I lists a sum­mary of this year’s cur­rent activity.

2. CNPA has also secured fund­ing to train and employ five Kick­start Youth Place­ment oppor­tun­it­ies for rangers – offer­ing a start in this type of career for young adults aged 18 — 24 on Uni­ver­sal Cred­it. Four are in post.

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM Paper I

1. CNPA has increased its grant in aid to six part­ner ranger ser­vices (private estates or char­it­able trusts) by 10% in 2021 to fur­ther sup­port part­ners in man­aging for visitors.

2. Forestry and Land Scot­land, Nation­al Trust for Scot­land, Nature Scot­land and Bal­mor­al Estate are all employ­ing addi­tion rangers/​visitor staff this year. The Nation­al Park will have twice as many rangers meet­ing vis­it­ors this year com­pared with 2019.

3. The Fam­ily of Cairngorms Rangers (13 part­ner ser­vices and CNPA) com­mu­nic­ate and share exper­i­ences via mobile phone groups.

Vis­it­or Infra­struc­ture and Management

1. Since Septem­ber 2020 a sig­ni­fic­ant num­ber of key coun­tryside des­tin­a­tions have been improved, many through CNPA fund­ing sup­port, to bet­ter man­age for visitors.

2. Improve­ments in Deeside include

   a. Upgrade and expan­sion of Linn of Dee car park – NTS with CNPA sup­port b. Upgrade and expan­sion Linn of Quoi­ch car park – NTS with CNPA sup­port C. Loch Muick car park expan­sion (sum­mer 2021) d. Cam­bus o May bridge repaired & open – Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil e. Din­net new car park west of vil­lage (sum­mer 2021) – Din­net Estate f. New loc­al inform­a­tion centre in Brae­mar – Com­munity with CNPA support

3. Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil has also issued traffic orders so that when ​‘dan­ger­ously busy’ the minor coun­try roads to Loch Muick and Linn of Dee can be tem­por­ar­ily closed but staffed so res­id­ents and busi­ness retain neces­sary access.

4. Improve­ments in Angus and Glenshee

   a. Upgrade to Glen­shee loc­al inform­a­tion centre b. Glen­shee pub­lic toi­lets to be upgrade (sum­mer 2021) C. Glen Doll vari­able sign & mobile toi­lets being investigated

5. Improve­ments in Badenoch and Strathspey

   a. Loch an Eilean car park upgraded & enlarged – Rothiemurchus Estate with CNPA sup­port b. Loch Garten vis­it­or centre upgraded inc car park improve­ments– RSPB C. Loch Garten paths upgraded – RSPB with CNPA sup­port d. Aviemore VIC redesigned – Vis­it Scotland

6. Improve­ments to Glen­more and CairnGorm Mt

   a. Tar­mac path from Vis­it­or Centre and Camp­site link­ing to beach & Glen­more Lodge path con­struc­ted – RTIF with CNPA support

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM Paper I

b. Four slow road crossing points installed - RTIF with CNPA support
C. Beach Car park improved & expanded – FLS with CNPA support
d. Beach Toilets upgraded - FLS with CNPA support
e. Speed limit in Glenmore reduced to 30 mph
f. Highland Council with CNPA support to improve loch side parking (summer 2021)
g. CairnGorm Mt with CNPA support to install campervan waste disposal at Ciste car park (summer 2021)
h. Highland Council with CNPA support investigating continuous bus service from Aviemore to Glenmore 10.00 – 16.00 through July and August.

Cairngorms Green recov­ery Fund

1. In a slightly wider con­text the Cairngorms Green Recov­ery Fund has been rein­stated in 2021 and is made up of £250,000 from the CNPA and a fur­ther £50,000 from the Cairngorms Trust and has four guid­ing principles:

   a. Green — pro­jects will con­trib­ute to strength­en­ing the nat­ur­al and social cap­it­al of the Park. b. Cairngorms – pro­jects will be Cairngorms Nation­al Park focused and con­trib­ute to the out­comes of the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan. c. Part­ner­ship – applic­ants will work in part­ner­ship with oth­ers to deliv­er pro­jects, focused on green recov­ery, well-being and eco­nom­ic growth. d. Employ­ment – Pro­jects will endeav­our to max­im­ise their con­tri­bu­tion to loc­al employ­ment and impact for the Nation­al Park.

2. Groups eli­gible to apply for the Fund include:

   a. Com­munity Bod­ies, b. Registered Char­it­ies, C. Busi­ness Asso­ci­ations and Nature/​Climate Bod­ies or Partnerships.

Con­clu­sion

1. While a huge amount of work has been under­taken to sup­port safe man­age­ment for vis­it­ors in the Cairngorms all part­ners expect 2021 to be a busy year with sig­ni­fic­ant chal­lenges. More than ever we all need to sup­port the over­rid­ing prin­ciple of #Cairngorm­s­To­geth­er

Annex I CNP Ranger Ser­vice Report Data 2021 Cairngorms Nation­al Park Ranger Ser­vice Report Data 2021

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM Paper I

Week begin­ning	No. Patrols	No. of people engaged with	No. tents encountered	No. of overnight­ing camper­vans	No. of dogs on a lead (or under very close con­trol) encountered	No. of dogs off the lead (or not under very close con­trol) encountered	No. of live fires/​BBQs extin­guished	No. of old fire/​BBQ remains cleared	No. of bags of lit­ter col­lec­ted (units of 0.25)
29th March	47	271	5	30	88	87	3	39	34
5th April	44	238	0	7	99	26	0	12	22.25
12th April	42	229	8	29	108	20	3	30	51.75
19th April	44	323	9	26	116	28	8	26	26.5
26th April	44	295	18	41	85	27	6	17	16.5
3rd May	32	320		22	80	17	0	15	44.25
10th May	32	357	50	54	89	18		14	10.5
17th May	43	233	32	19	90	7		19	14