Core Path Report for D029 formerly C48 Balnahard Beach, Colonsay
1. Proposed Core Path
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2. Summary of Representations Received Representation Respondent Organisation/ Objection Respondents Respondent Objection Name Group Summery proposed Ref No. withdrawn action Objection Frieda Bos About Argyll Reinstate Reinstate P166 Walking as Core Holidays Path Support Alex Isle of Howard Colonsay Estate
3. History of Access i. Right of Way Status: None
ii. Recorded Access Issues: None
4. Site Visit
Stock being fed adjacent to track
Sign at start of track, looking north east from B8086 welcomes walkers and cyclists
Looking back towards Kiloran Bay
Heading north west with Carnan Eoin on the left hand side
5. Alternative Route/s None identified
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6. Consultation with Objectors & Other Interested Parties This path should be reinstated as a core path
7. Access Officer’s Initial Comments: This is a good quality path used by farm vehicles along its whole length and it should be possible for a mountain bike or horse rider to use the majority of the route.
The land owner has received funding to maintain the whole of this route through the Land Management Contract Scheme. This scheme has now closed; however funding may available from other grant schemes now or in the future
Map showing LMC path
There are a number of core paths in the plan that cross farm land, and the basis of both the Land Reform Scotland Act and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code is that access and land management can be successfully integrated. The Land Owner has objected to the proposed Core Path on the basis that it will on occasion disrupt farming operations because part of the path passes through the farmyard
The path also passes close to 2 residential properties and a farmhouse at Balnahard which is let as a holiday cottage http://www.colonsay.org.uk/balnahard.html . No site visit has been carried out to date however the level of use is unlikely to be high on Colonsay because of its remote location. The land owner has also claimed that public access has been welcomed over a period of many years.
Although the path is shown passing between the farmhouse and the steading, there is an alternative route visible on the aerial photography to the north of Balnahard Farmhouse which might help to resolve this problem on part. A site visit would be required to confirm this.
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The route is already promoted on website on the Aberdeen NEKF Hill Walking and Cycling Web Site http://www.walks.able-technologies.eu/colonsay.shtm. The walk has also been identified in “ Walks on Tiree, Coll, Colonsay and Mull” by Mary Welsh 1996 - See Appendix IV
The sole objector is the owner of a commercial business which promotes walking holidays across Argyll & Bute to an international clientele. Commercial guides have the same access rights as any private individual and although it may appear that because there is a commercial interest this objection should be discarded this is not true. The provision of a good Core Paths network will in future underpin much of the tourism in the area and in turn the economy of many rural communities.
I consider that the island of Colonsay has a deficient Core Path network, the only paths currently being proposed that are available to residents and visitors are on the connected island of Ornsary. During the public consultation on the Consultative Draft of the Core Paths Plan objections were made to the designation of all Core Paths on Colonsay by the land owner. Following this a letter was sent to the Community Council seeking their view on the sufficiency of the network if all the proposed Core Paths were deleted. No reply was received and on the advice of the Access Forum the decision was made to delete all the Core Paths that had been proposed on Colonsay.
Therefore in the light of this objection to the deletion of the path I believe that this path D029 should be proposed as Core Path.
8. Advice received from the Access Forum
9. Access Officer’s Final Recommendations
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Appendices
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Appendix I. Copies of relevant correspondence
Appendix II. Copies of responses additional consultations
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Appendix III. Additional supporting documents Extract from the Aberdeen NEKF Hill Walking and Cycling Web Site illustrating this walk http://www.walks.able-technologies.eu/colonsay.shtm
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Extract from “Walks on Tiree, Coll, Colonsay and Mull” by Mary Welsh 1996
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