SOMETHING OF A THEME has run through recent newsletters. It is that the attractive core of the Ochils, with wooded glens and open hillsides, is constricting under the cumulative pressure of many individual land-use decisions.
The pressure appears greatest around Glen Devon-Glen Eagles. In the space of a few years the whole of the western side of Glen Devon has been, or is planned to be, forested. North of Glen Devon and east of Glen Eagles, ScottishPower wants to build a wind power station. And late last year there was a proposal by Gleneagles Estate to afforest parts of Bald Hill and Corim Hill, to the south of Lower Glendevon Reservoir.
FotO objected to this plantation conifer proposal on the grounds that it represented a detrimental landscape change, potentially setting a precedent for further coniferous afforestation into the western Ochils. There will be open ground at the Frandy Burn, but the general effect will be of an afforested landscape from the Woodland Trust's Ben Shee native woodland planting to the dam at Upper Glendevon Reservoir. The planted area will be 106 hectares and the main species will be sitka spruce. The photomontages included in the environmental statement, which one normally expects to be selected to show proposals in the best light, showed clearly that the plantation would not sit at all well in the landscape.
It appears that FotO was the only objector. In particular, the statutory organisations, including Scottish Natural Heritage and Perth and Kinross Council, appear to have been relaxed about the application. Inevitably, therefore, it was approved. Of particular concern to FotO was a statement by the applicant in the environmental statement that Perth and Kinross Council, which is preparing an Indicative Forestry Strategy for its area, might be considering making this part of the Ochils a "preferred" area for forestry expansion. We need to keep an eye on this.
The difficulty of maintaining viable agricultural businesses makes other forms of income attractive, and the two primary options in the Ochils are trees and wind turbines. Without coherent national land-use planning that gives a proper valuation to areas of modest but important landscape such as the Ochils, accompanied by the economic support needed to maintain an appropriate mix of land uses, local groups such as FotO are constantly having to fight rearguard actions. The government's actions suggest it is much more sympathetic to short-term economic development values than to long-term landscape values. These need not be incompatible values - but, too often at present, they are.