Cononish River near Tyndrum
Gordon Watson, Director of Planning and Rural Development at the Park Authority said: “I can confirm we have received a new planning application from Scotgold Resources Limited to operate a gold mine near Tyndrum. This revised application follows extensive pre-application discussions between the National Park and Scotgold to address the concerns associated with the previously refused application.
“We will be carrying out consultations over the coming weeks and details of the proposal are available on our website and will be exhibited in our offices in Balloch. It is expected that the proposal will be considered by the full Park Board by the end of October.” Links to further details of the application and the public consultation process can be found at the bottom of this article.
The previous application from Scotgold Resources Ltd was to mine gold and silver and develop a controversial water extraction system. The mine had previously been abandoned as uneconomic in 1997 but recent surges in world gold prices had fuelled interest and exploratory work by Scotgold. Scotgold Resources Ltd is reported to also be looking into potential mining activities at a site just outside the National Park boundary.
At the time of the original planning refusal the, then, convenor of the Park Authority, Mike Cantlay, who is now the boss at VisitScotland, said potential economic benefits could not be balanced against conservation concerns, but explained that the application had been a very difficult one to consider with compelling arguments on both sides. The original application had been described by Fiona Logan, chief executive of the Park Authority, as, “our Beauly-Denny in terms of controversy”.
Mr Cantlay told the BBC, “Our main concern lay with the design, scale and visual impact of the waste management facility which would hold 820,000 tonnes of slurry waste.
“At the end of the day, we could not balance the potential economic benefits against our primary aim to conserve and enhance our natural heritage, one of the original reasons for establishing National Parks in Scotland.”
At the time, the local community council for Tyndrum was in favour of the application, hoping that long term jobs would be created and tourism given a boost from the sale of Scottish gold products. However the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage and the JMT all objected to the application on environmental grounds and some tourism businesses were worried that the damage to the enviroment would put off tourists attracted by the landscape and natural beauty of the area.
Details of the new application and how members of the public can get involved in the consultation process can be found on the National Park website.