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Hostile reception for environmentally friendly community plan

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Published Date: 03 January 2008
By JOHN ROSS
AT PRESENT the residents of Kilnhill Wood consist of deer, badgers, red squirrels and a few species of bat.
But under a plan to be considered this month, they could soon be sharing their woodland habitat with human neighbours.

The Forestry Commission Scotland wants to establish an environmentally friendly community that would showcase modern green princ
iples within the ancient tradition of living and working in a forest.

But the proposal to set up the demonstration site in the 123-acre Kilnhill Wood, near Nairn, is seen as unrealistic and unviable by many in the area.

An opposition group, Friends of Kilnhill Wood, has been established and 300 people have signed a petition against the scheme.

The plan due to come before Highland Council envisages 32 timber-built homes, some of which will be affordable housing, as well as holiday homes and possibly rural businesses.

The community will use wind and solar energy and there will be an emphasis on recycling, home working and reduced car dependence.

The community will be run by trustees with shared ideas on how to manage and develop the Scots pine wood and ensure there is "minimal impact".

Phil Whitfield, of Forestry Commission Scotland, said it could help revitalise rural areas by providing affordable and environmentally-sound housing.

A public consultation and exhibition was held at the end of last year. However, many local people remain unconvinced.

The Nairn Woodlands and Wetlands Association say the wood is too wet and the infrastructure needed, including sewerage treatment works, would make it too expensive.

"It is going to be a damp, cold unattractive site for houses, with no view, no focus and no sense of community," the group says.

And it argues the suggestion of establishing a trust is also unrealistic: "On this site it will be a hopeless model. No sensible person would invest in it."

Stephen Gray, chairman of the Friends of Kilnhill Wood, said local residents want the site protected.

He said: "Our community, which is using the woodland, are going to get that taken away from them and replaced by a community of a certain way of thinking."

Mr Gray is also concerned that animals will be driven out.

He added: "We are desperate for low-cost housing … but this is a money-making exercise which has been dressed up using buzz words like 'eco-friendly' and 'affordable housing'.

"People living there will also be four miles from the nearest shop. That does not fit with a low car usage community."



Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 02 January 2008 9:15 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Ross Fyffe,

Scotland 03/01/2008 01:16:04
I never thought I would say this but I agree here with FC 100% .................
2

Guga II,

Rockall 03/01/2008 05:52:23
It will end up being a ghetto for foreign yuppies who will have no intention of assimilating with the locals. Either that, or as holiday homes for these same foreigners.
3

Hugo of Garven,

03/01/2008 08:37:32
It sounds an interesting and exciting project.

I don't know the area or the details of the proposal but I welcome any attempt to repopulate the countryside - a reversal of the Highland clearance mentality.

Opponents of the scheme will no doubt, and rightly, probe for weaknesses in the proposal. It is for the Highland Council to apply expertise and make a decision.

I obviously agree in principle.
4

Pilrig,

Livingston 03/01/2008 08:59:05
Give developers an inch and they'll take a mile. One cure for depopulation in the Highlands is to build council hooses in toons and villages.
5

Unimpressed one,

03/01/2008 10:13:16
Agree with #4. Besides the FC plans sound like their designed for eco-yuppies. Once the turbines go up and the PC brigade take over it will become a ghetto.
6

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 03/01/2008 10:37:17
So what is this "ancient tradition of living and working in a forest" that the FC would have us believe existed in Scotland, and what possible relevance does it have to the building of permanent modern houses, with roads, sewerage, electricity and all the rest, in our woodlands?

Not much of a tradition at all, other than that of the occasional hovel of an impoverished charcoal burner or desperate outcast.

The Forestry Commission has never had a good reputation as a caretaker of of our woodlands, and has done more damage to native woodlands in the twentieth century than any other landowner. But in recent decades it has made considerable progress in improving its woodland for people and wildlife, rather than regarding them merely as cellulose factories.

I regard this policy change as a major retrograde step: it will open up a maelstrom of controversy and lose it much of the support that has been carefully nurtured in recent times.

In the twentieth century the Forestry Commission acted like an impregnable monolith riding roughshod over local communities. Is it returning to its bad old ways?
7

Mikey,

03/01/2008 11:43:09
Let them go ahead with their plans but make the houses let by the local council only, for locals only. We really don't need another Little Sussex! How about housing the locals for a change?
8

Against,

Nairn 03/01/2008 13:59:58
It will be totally impossible to use wind power and solar energy in such a woodland environment. The trees will disupt any turbines and will block out the sun required to fuel solar panels
The forestry commission state in their mission statement that they will protect and save our woodland and forest. They are clearly failing in their own mission if they plan to take down trees to build houses. There is no way you can use the term Eco-friendly when destroying woodland and placing human beings in there.
This wood cannot support families in any way. If it was such a rich source of income, such that it could support 30+ families the FC would not be trying to rid themselves of it.
The plan is idealistic and unrealistic and public money has been and is being wasted in persuing it.
The local area is well populated, does not need reviving and the people who already live there are totally comvinced that this plan is absolute rubbish. The local people do not want it, instead they want the use of this wood, as just that, a wood. Why is this such a difficult concept for the FC or anyone else to understand?
Finally there are more than just a few badgers, squirrels and bats in the wood. There are pine martens and several of our countries more unusual birds such as the Crossbill. If the puiblic does not stand up and fight this planned development, no woodland or forest in Scotland will be safe from similar developments. So those of you who think, this isn't local to me so why not let it happen, beware, the next place that such development could take place, might be your favourite wood. This is the FCs first of a kind and the intent is for it to be a demonstration for further such projects.
9

moonmoth,

dumbarton 03/01/2008 14:35:19
i think its a great idea, not everyone wants to live in a concrete box with a monobloc drive and three cars! its all about choice, and i am not a yuppie just an ordinary person with a family that would like to live in a more meaningful and harmonius way with the environment, i wish fc luck with this exciting project.
10

John Blackley,

Austin, TX 03/01/2008 16:41:57
Ah, what a wonderful future awaits Scotland! Just wait until those ScotNat plans for a powerful, independent and forward-thinking Scotland come to fruition!

In the meantime, let's advance to that broad, sunlit upland by greeting every proposal with counter-proposals for more council houses to keep Scots dependent, less foreigners to keep Scots inbred and inward-looking and endless reasons why new ideas won't work.

If the world ever needs a supply of people to point and things and say they're broken then Scotland will surely corner the market.
11

Neil,

Glasgow 03/01/2008 16:41:59
Now this is what greenery should be. Trying something slightly unusual, building a community of like minded people & the houses do look rather nice (I don't know if they are practical but normal houses aren't). It might work, it might not but they should be allowed to try.

How depressing that most of the "environmentalist" usual supsects are against it prefering "One cure for depopulation in the Highlands is to build council hooses in toons and villages."

12

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 03/01/2008 17:36:21
#8 Against

Local people opposed to this proposal should familiarise themselves with the UK Forest Partnership for Action, signed in 2002 at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. It was supported by both the Forestry Commission and the Scottish Executive, and states, p.6, under "Forest Restoration and Protection"

"The continuing deforestation and degradation of the world’s forest resource remains a major concern, and
increased fragmentation jeopardises the survival of forests and the services they provide. Historic degradation of our woodland resource has left us with little natural forest cover - ancient woodlands cover only 2% of the land area. This remaining area is threatened by further changes in land use, and the potential impacts of climate change. The quality and area of native woodland needs to be increased in the UK, with a focus on improving the levels of biodiversity and other benefits. Areas of new native woodland should also be developed, in particular as extensions to existing sites."

"The Partnership is committed to the restoration, protection and expansion of native woodlands in the UK as well as to promoting the restoration and protection of forests and their biodiversity globally. The Partnership will refer to the country forestry strategies and promotes the implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, mainly through the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP)."

As far as I am aware the woodland in question is mainly native pine. Perhaps you should ask the Forestry Commission to explain how building houses in this wood promotes its restoration, protection and expansion. And since the FC will be unable to provide a satisfactory reply, ask the FC why it is not abiding by an international agreement that both it and the Scottish Executive signed up to a mere five years ago.
13

Hugo of Garven,

03/01/2008 17:51:57
Reading the comments after my post at #3 I am dismayed by the 'cannae dae it' posts. They might be right but in spite of Slioch at #13 I think it is worth a gamble.

Slogan --- We CAN do it.

OK, sometimes we might make a slight error, even a mistake.

We CAN do it.
14

moonmoth,

dumbarton 03/01/2008 21:07:21
re #13 Kilnhill Wood is not an ancient woodland, nearly all the woodland in scotland has been planted by the fc, and for woodland to be sustainable, and to continue to be planted and maintained it has to have a return i.e make money, the eco homes idea is just a fresh approach to the situation, and obviously an idea to reduce impact on the environment. im sure the owners of these eco homes would be more than happy to plant more trees to replace those used in the construction of their new homes.

 

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