Chair's Report

2003 has been another eventful year for the Ochils. The hills remain popular for a variety of recreational activities: walkers cross the main tops (and some of the more obscure ridges and bumps as well) on pretty much every day of the year, whatever the weather. Runners, too: is there a more runner-friendly piece of hill terrain than the Ochils in the whole of the UK, with its cushioning paths and its long steady ridges after the initial slog up from the glens and gorges below? Then there are the parapenters: thermaling up and floating down to Menstrie after having taken the plunge from high on Myreton Hill. Cyclists, by contrast, aren't often seen in these hills - again the lower steeps are a factor - but they can be found on the tracks and in the glens around the fringes. Even the odd horse crops up, for example one met munching tussocks beside the Ben Buck cairn on a fine summer's day.

Away from recreational land-use, the Glen Sherup area has continued to see the planting of broadleaf trees during 2003. While this was initially viewed warily in some quarters, the work has progressed quietly and cooperatively: there's a fair amount of joined-up thinking going on. Less happy are the multiple threats of windfarm construction in the eastern and northern parts of the range. Both the autumn newsletter and the AGM focus on this, and there is no doubt that windfarms form the single biggest threat to the look of the Ochils for many years.

The issue is complex: clearly there is a need for sources of renewable energy, and traditional nimbyism simply evades the problem, so FotO needs to have a sensible, thought-out strategy. The extent to which the issue of renewables is difficult in practical terms is shown in that numerous eco-friendly and conservation-aware people - those who are, in many ways, drawn to organisations such as FotO - tend to be strongly in favour of renewable energy in general. This leads to something close to a clash of ideologies, accompanied by a lot of discussion and heart-searching. FotO's current position on windfarms in the Ochils is one of opposition, but much more discussion is needed, both at committee and ordinary-member level.

On which subject1/4 FotO needs more members if it is to survive, thrive and remain active in fending off intrusive threats to the landscape that we love. Membership numbers stay very steady - you're a loyal lot - but we need more of you, so please put the word about and start a recruitment drive. Our shiny new leaflet will help in this respect. The committee, too, is under strength, with just a handful of people doing almost everything, often doubling-up in posts (when ideally it should be one person one job). We really should have around eight regular, reliable committee members, so let us know if you could spare one evening every couple of months along with the occasional bit of extra work from time to time. It's an important time for the Ochils, and there are plenty of things to do.

Dave Hewitt
Chair,
October 2003