Glenlivet Estate proposals for all-year-round site

lans for a 25-mile mountain bike trail through a remote estate have left a Moray community divided.

The Crown Estate is proposing to build the £700,000 trail on the Glenlivet Estate in the Carn Daimh forest near Tomintoul.

The estate says the all-year-round site featuring a cafe, bike shop and visitor centre will bring business opportunities, tourists and jobs.

But some locals want the unspoilt landscape left.

The Crown Estate’s head of countryside management, Andrew Wells, said 40% of costs – £280,000 – may be met by the European Regional Development Fund early next year. The rest could be sourced by the Crown Estate and unconfirmed partners.

He said the positive economic benefit of similar mountain bike tracks at Golspie and Laggan made the proposal attractive. “Without funding and significant community support it may not even happen,” he added.

Crown Estate countryside manager Vicky Hilton said the Daimh forest was commercial woodland with relatively low environmental benefit, rendering it the perfect location.

Steve Sacks, owner of the Argyle Guesthouse at Tomintoul, said the area should seize upon the idea before another area does.

Tomintoul-based Moray Council youth worker Raymond Asher said the proposed centre would provide training, jobs and recreation for young people.

But Crown Estate tenant farmers Alan and Tilly Smith, who keep 130-head of reindeer, were not convinced.

Mrs Smith said the reindeer herd was settled outside the perimeter of the proposed bike track but the trail would cut through their farmland.

Her concerns were for the rural area, wildcats and osprey. She doubted the suitability of the single-track road access, which would service the proposed centre, off the A939 and said she did not believe Tomintoul businesses would benefit.

Alistair Mitchell, head gamekeeper of Highland Sporting Estate which is leased from the Crown Estate, said use of the track would result in a “huge” loss of income for the estate and would disperse the woodland’s red deer population.

Feedback questionnaires can be downloaded from www.glenlivetestate.co.uk or phone 01479 870070. The questionnaires must be returned to the Crown Estate office in Tomintoul by November 20.

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