Cairngorm Park Authority Not Buying Estate

The Cairngorm National Park Authority will not be buying the Cairngorm Estate it revealed in a meeting last week.

The mooted sale of the 3,500-acre estate, which includes Cairngorm itself, the northern corries and the Cairngorm ski area complete with controversial funicular railway, was announced a few months ago and it seems likely that the buyer will be another public body possibly Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), which has reportedly already expressed an interest.

A central condition of the sale is that the ski area and funicular continue to be run as a going concern, which rules out several potential buyers who’d happily close down the whole sorry caboodle.

A report by Nick Halfhide of the Park Authority rules out the body as a buyer on the basis that while it has the powers to acquire and manage land, at this stage in its existence, it’s better to leave land management to other organisations with more experience.

FCS meanwhile, owned the area prior to 1971 when it was transferred to the Highlands and Islands Development Board which became Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and is now disposing of the estate.

The results of an assessment of the options for the disposal of the estate are due to be released late this month, November.