News release
EMBARGOED UNTIL 11AM SUNDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2006
The Ramblers' Association Scotland is calling for Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort Ltd to unblock a path in the centre of Aviemore by removing an unauthorised and controversial fence.
On Sunday 26th February, Ramblers Scotland Director, Dave Morris, and Pauline McNeill MSP, Convenor of the Parliament's Justice 1 committee, will deliver a letter to James Crosby, Chief Executive of HBOS, care of the Aviemore branch of the Bank of Scotland. The letter calls on the Bank of Scotland, as key partners of the Aviemore Highland Resort, to use its influence and ask Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort (MAHR) Ltd to take down a 4-metre section of fencing which is a cause of great concern in the town and beyond, and is locally known as Aviemore's 'Berlin Wall'.
The resort, venue for this year's Scottish Labour Party Conference, is encircled by a fence which was erected in 2004 without planning permission. The fence effectively separates the resort from the community. Retrospective planning permission was subsequently refused by the Cairngorms National Park Authority, but MAHR Ltd has rejected calls to remove part of the fence which blocks public access from the Tesco car park into the resort. Instead, MAHR Ltd has appealed the enforcement notice on a technicality and the case is heading for the Court of Session, leading to even greater delay in getting this fence removed.
Dave Morris said: "The fence is completely contrary to the aims of the development which stated that the resort should be integrated into the local community. The Cairngorms National Park Authority have refused planning permission, and the local community has been waiting years already for the fence to be removed. While the appeal may be legal, it completely goes against the spirit of the Land Reform Act and we call upon the Bank of Scotland to exert its influence and ask senior officials of MAHR Ltd. To take this fence down."
Pauline McNeill said: "It is very disappointing that MAHR Ltd has resorted to this legal delay when it is clear that this path should be open to the local community and visitors to Aviemore."
