New plans have been approved to create the UK’s highest campervan site in the Cairngorm National Park.
Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd (CMSL) is converting the Coire na Ciste car park into an overnight area for 50 motorhomes, with plans to charge £15 a night.
Interim chief executive Susan Smith believes it is a good short-term solution and she hopes improvements and additions can be made at stage two.
Concerns cappercaillies could bear the brunt
However, opponents say the site contravenes climate change targets and will have an adverse impact on the cappercaillie population in the area.
The campsite has also brought critics out on social media with one commentator claiming it is “ridiculous and embarrassing” to charge £15 to park up at a site with only a chemical waste disposal point.
The controversial car parking site lies less than two miles from the Cairngorm Mountain Base Station and funicular railway.
Cairngorm Mountain hopes the plan will generate much-needed funds for the resort and alleviate summer gridlock in the wider area.
Approval for the scheme comes amid calls for right to roam legislation to be scrapped to protect other parts of the Highlands being overwhelmed by campervanning visitors during staycations.
‘We want this campervan site to work’
Ms Smith said: “There’s a place for everyone. If we are adhering to the sensible measures that are in place to manage the pandemic, if we’re welcoming and giving good customer service, then there’s a place for everybody.
She added: “We just want to dip our toe in the water and see how receptive people are to the facility, but we are pretty sure that we want to provide extra facilities for campervans and we would hope this can be done with a second phase, potentially next year.”
The scheme was voted through by a majority of members of the Cairngorms National Park Authority.
However, Eleanor Mackintosh asked fellow members why the park authority was creating “a toilet emptying facility half way up an iconic mountain”.
Fellow member Fiona Mclean insisted: “We should be discouraging rather than encouraging these gas-guzzling campervans from heading up the mountain”.
She added: “We should be doing more to reduce the impact on capercaillie.”
Member Derek Ross took a different view saying “the reality is that the campervans are here – this is an attempt to manage that”.
A social media commentator on a conservation blog wrote that she was “so sorry to read of the planning consent for this ill-considered scheme.
“The £15 charge to park up with nothing but a chemical waste disposal point is ridiculous and embarrassing.
“Compare this to the Western Isles where disposal is free or a small charge (£3) is made. The view at the Ciste may be attractive but not if it is a view of 50 motorhomes. I despair.”
‘People will be responsible and pay’
Ms Smith said the motivation was to improve the area for everyone.
She added: “We just want to do our bit in the national park area to provide people with a safe and a welcoming environment.
“The idea is to get everybody who wants to stay overnight at Cairngorm Mountain in a campervan over to the Criste area.
“Most campervan owners do realise that to have a campervan site with a waste facility, there is a cost to pay for that. People have been receptive to that.”
Ms Smith hopes to have the campervan site fully operational by the end of July.