1.0 Introduction
The Cairngorm Mountains are renowned for their scenic beauty, which attracts visitors from around the world. Whilst many visitors come simply to sightsee, a greater number come to participate in year round outdoor activities. During the summer season hiking and climbing are popular whilst in the winter the north edge of the plateau becomes the centre for the Scottish ski industry.
Due to increasing competition and out-dated chairlift equipment, the number of skiers is declining. In these circumstances the Cairngorm Chairlift Company (CCC) who manage the ski area are seeking in invest in its redevelopment hoping to halt the winter decline and increase the number of summer visitors. They have proposed a Funicular Railway running from the existing base station to the Ptarmigan restaurant, at the top of the existing chairlift. Unfortunately for the CCC, their proposal is not universally welcomed. Many pressure and conservation groups working in Scotland have registered objections. At present, WWF-Scotland and the RSPB are involved in a legal case to prevent construction of the funicular on the grounds that it contravenes European Law.
This dissertation is an attempt to use a geographical information system (GIS) to assess the impact of the proposed development and its associated buildings. Although produced for WWF-Scotland the assessment has being undertaken from an unbiased point-of-view. The two issues considered are the level of visual intrusion caused by the redevelopment and the effect on walkers' access time on to the Cairngorms from the ski area. This research aims to:
- to assess whether the viewshed increases or decreases due to the proposals,
- to appraise the change in visual intrusion,
- evaluate whether GIS can provide a complete assessment of the above,
- calculate the current access time for hill walkers on to the Cairngorms,
- assess the change in access time caused by the redevelopment system,
- provide easy to understand visualisations of the analysis results.
This work was done over the summer of 1998 as part of the assessment for my MA GIS dissertation using the facilities available at the University of Leeds. As research into an ongoing 'real-world' issue, this work is placed in the wider context of the tourism and recreation in the Scottish Mountains. Thus, after a brief introduction to the region under study the background to the funicular proposals and the objections made are discussed in detail. Before examining the visibility and accessibility approaches that were used a chapter explains the representation of terrain in GIS. A brief chapter follows on the visualisation of my results, an important issue which increases reader understanding of the analysis. The results of my analysis are then set out and their implications discussed before the concluding comments.
Last Modified 22-03-99