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CAIRNGORMS LOCAL OUTDOOR ACCESS FORUM 
Paper 5 Upland Path Audit 21 August 2007 

CAIRNGORMS LOCAL OUTDOOR ACCESS FORUM 


Title: Upland Path Audit 

Prepared by: Bob Grant, Senior Outdoor Access Officer 

Purpose: To advise the Forum of the proposed work to assess and 
prioritise upland path repair. 


Advice sought: 

That the Forum notes the proposals and considers Forum 
representation at the workshop. 


Background 

1. There are 7 Priorities for Action within the National Park Plan, one of which is 
Providing High Quality Opportunities for Outdoor Access. To achieve this, 6 
outcomes have been identified that require to be achieved by 2012. These are as 
follows: 

Outdoor Access Outcomes for 2012 

1 A wider range of people will have the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. 

2 Land managers and those enjoying the outdoors will have a better 
understanding of their respective rights and responsibilities which will 
positively influence behaviour and enable all to enjoy the special 
qualities of the National Park. 

3 There will be a more extensive, high quality, well maintained and clearly 
promoted path network so that everyone can enjoy the outdoors and 
move around the Park in a way that minimises reliance on motor 
vehicles. 

4 There will be greater involvement of communities, land managers and 
visitors in the management and maintenance of the paths. 

5 There will be more effective connections between public transport and 
places with outdoor access opportunities. 

6 There will be locally based healthy walking groups throughout the 
National Park and active promotion of outdoor activity by health 
professionals in order to contribute positively to the physical, mental and 
social health of residents and visitors. 


2. One of the actions that will enable these outcomes to be achieved is to “Complete a 
Park wide survey of upland paths and popular setting off points, using both field 
survey and stakeholder input, to develop a targeted repair and maintenance 
programme”. This is expanded upon within the Outdoor Access Strategy which 
confirms that “Investment in upland path repair and maintenance will be prioritised on 
the basis of periodic Park-wide surveys, drawing on both field survey and 
stakeholder input” 

3. To take this work forward the Upper Deeside Access Trust has been asked to:-

a. Develop an initial list of promoted upland paths within the Cairngorms National 
Park. Where available, data will be included on known levels of use, path 
condition and existing maintenance regimes; 

b. Organise and run a workshop which will present the information gathered to an 
audience of key stakeholders. The audience will include relevant land managers, 
recreational bodies, representatives of the Local Outdoor Access Forum, public 
bodies and the Upland Path Advisory Group. The workshop will seek to agree a 
prioritised list of paths that require early intervention and consider the costs and 
potential solutions to ensure the path resource is managed in an acceptable 
condition; 

c. A report will be prepared highlighting the outputs from the preceding two tasks. 
The report will form a key part of the business plan of the access trust. 


The Workshop 

4. It is envisaged that the preparatory work (first bullet point above) will be completed in 
the next few months and the workshop would be held in January or February 2008. 
The results from the survey will be presented to the workshop and advice from the 
workshop will help shape the future work on upland paths within the Cairngorms 
National Park. It is therefore important that the workshop audience has a sound 
knowledge of the relevant issues, and preferably, a reasonable knowledge of upland 
paths within the Cairngorms. 

5. Members of the Forum are asked to consider who they would wish to nominate to 
attend the workshop. 


Next Steps 

6. It is envisaged that an update of the workshop will be presented to the Forum on 26 
February 2008 and a copy of the final report will be forwarded to all Forum members 
when complete. 


Bob Grant 
10 August 2007 

bobgrant@cairngorms.co.uk