1. the Hills of Home

“THE HILLS OF HOME” A VISION FOR THE UPLANDS (REVISED 2016) DREW JAMIESON Prepared with the support of the Friends of the Ochils !2 “THE HILLS OF HOME” Blows the wind to-day, and the sun and the rain are flying, Blows the wind on the moors to-day and now, Where about the graves of the martyrs the whaups are crying, My heart remembers how! Grey recumbent tombs of the dead in desert places, Standing stones on the vacant wine-red moor, Hills of sheep, and the howes of the silent vanished races, And winds, austere and pure: Be it granted me to behold you again in dying, Hills of home! and to hear again the call; Hear about the graves of the martyrs the peewees crying, And hear no more at all. Robert Louis Stevenson (Songs of Travel) Jamieson/hills of home/24 Jan 2016 !3 Jamieson/hills of home/24 Jan 2016 !4 Five prominent and discrete hill ranges in and around Central Scotland are key resources for delivering the objectives of the Central Scotland Green Network and the Scottish Land Use Strategy 2016-2021. These uplands provide multiple benefits: • They form watersheds for collecting rainfall and regulating runoff; • They are sources for several flood-prone rivers; • They provide locations for renewable energy -wind, hydro, solar, biomass; • They are important elements of Scotland’s culture and history; • They are important economic resources; • They are important wildlife habitats; • They are important recreational resources; • They are important elements of Scotland’s culture and history. • They are important landscape resources, widely visible to major sections of Central Scotland’s urban populations. The five most prominent and discrete upland ranges in Central Scotland are: • Pentland Hills • Lomond Hills • Ochil Hills Jamieson/hills of home/24 Jan 2016 !5 • Campsie/Touch Hills • Renfrew Heights. Other lesser hill areas – Cleish, Kilpatrick, Bathgate, Moorfoot and Lammermuir hills are either much smaller or more peripheral to CSGN area of responsibility. At present 3 of these prominent hill-ranges – Pentlands, Lomonds and Renfrew Heights enjoy coordinated planning and management through designation as Regional Parks. The two other major hill ranges – Ochils and Campsies – enjoy no form of coordination. This causes great difficulty for those voluntary individuals and bodies, who care about these hills, to exert any influence on their development. In the case of the Pentland Hills, three separate local authorities – City of Edinburgh, Midlothian and West Lothian – have adopted a common planning and management framework – to protect the essential character of the hills, to care for the hills, to encourage responsible public enjoyment and to promote co-existence with farming and other land-uses. The other Regional Parks will have similar aims. While it is recognised that Regional Parks may not be perceived as the best vehicle nowadays for promoting this coordination, the pressures of increased recreation (eg mountain biking) and Jamieson/hills of home/24 Jan 2016 !6 development pressures (eg windfarms) have intensified. It is suggested that some mechanism for achieving the required coordination of planning and management of the hill areas across local authority boundaries is necessary to make the best of the hills, to contribute to the objectives of CSGN - “to promote the social, physical, cultural and environmental well-being of Central Scotland.” - as described in “The Vision”. The protection and enhancement of the hills could present particular opportunities for training and employment in dykeing, fencing, tree planting, path creation and maintenance, signing - together with the benefits to physical and mental health and reduction in anti-social activity. It was considered, at the time, that CSGN had the appropriate political influence, working partnerships and financial leverage to encourage this coordination process in the remaining hill ranges – Ochils and Campsies. The Ochils were seen as a priority for action. They are well-defined geographically, are under considerable development pressures, have a high public profile and a well- established network of volunteers in the Friends of the Ochils charitable organisation. With the current review of the Scottish Land Use Strategy, it is possible that the proposed Regional Land Use Partnerships and Frameworks could achieve this objective in the future. Jamieson/hills of home/24 Jan 2016 !7 A VISION FOR THE UPLANDS A vision for the uplands would be one where the different habitats harmoniously provide their multiple services, both for the ecosystem of the hills and for the population and settlements of the surrounding lowlands.. Specifically, they would display: • Fully functioning blanket bogs providing stable watershed systems; • Productive and species-rich grasslands; • Sustainable broad-leaved woodlands; • Productive and well-designed commercial forests; • Healthy aquatic ecosystems of “good ecological status”, providing: - wholesome drinking water - productive fish habitat; • Regenerated biodiversity; • Productive economy; • Renewable energy, compatible with landscape and biodiversity objectives; • Attractive and inspiring landscapes, contributing to a “sense of place”; • Good recreational access, stable paths, adequate parking and visitor information. • A respected and understood historical past, contributing a “sense of time”; Jamieson/hills of home/24 Jan 2016 !8 Jamieson/hills of home/24 Jan 2016.

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