Fears raised over timber lorries on narrow Perthshire roads
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Campaigners say a road near Auchingarrich Forest, near Comrie, is unsuitable for logging lorries
Timber companies have been warned lives could be put in danger in a row over planned logging routes in Perthshire.
Two communities have joined forced to fight plans which could see large timber lorries make thousands of trips along narrow rural roads.
They claim they were not consulted on the routes, which could cause lasting damage to local infrastructure.
The forestry firms say the working routes for the trucks have not yet been finalised.
Hundreds of residents near Pitlochry and Comrie have banded together via social media to investigate the new routes amid concerns about a lack of consultation.
Parts of Ballyoukan road are very narrow
South of Pitlochry, Scottish Woodlands is drawing up plans to harvest 120,000 tonnes of timber from the Ballyoukan plantation over the next 10 years.
It means 4,800 loads of timber would be transported via 10,000 lorry movements through the area.
Campaigners say they do not object to the forestry harvest - but they have serious concerns about one route under consideration for the HGVs.
Locals say the Ballyoukan hill road is steep and narrow, and lorries would have to turn blindly on to General Wade's Military Road in East Haugh.
Scottish Woodlands itself initially described the route as "unsuitable for timber transport" in an assessment published last year, external.
However Fergus McCallum, of Pitlochry and Moulin community council, said they have been told by Scottish Woodlands "on many occasions" that it is the preferred route.
Scottish Woodlands insist that it is also looking at other alternatives.
Jason Young, a local campaigner, warned that dog walkers and horse riders were among the most vulnerable.
"There's no pavements, no streetlights, several bends, a blind summit, and cars speed a lot on the road," he said.
"There are seven better roads they could use but that involves paying landowners. In its current state if they bring 44-tonne trucks down, someone will die. It's profit before safety."
General Wade's Military Road does not have pavements
He said Scottish Woodlands told them they had a "heritable right" to use the road.
"They just said they have a heritable right to use the road - but just because you've got a heritable right doesn't mean it's safe," he added.
"Their own reports are damning and say the roads are unsafe and don't meet their gradients.
"And they can't widen the road because the homeowners own the land they would use to widen it."
Charles Bushby from Scottish Woodlands said the route had not yet been finalised.
He said: "We are engaging a professional civil engineer to look at the viability of the existing route in question and we are looking at alternative routes.
"Once we have made our assessments we will report our findings to a working group which is chaired by our regulator Scottish Forestry."
As the regulator of forestry activities, Scottish Forestry said it would be monitoring and reviewing the process closely.
It said Scottish Woodlands would be expected to engage with local communities to ensure that all options are properly investigated.
The blind summit on General Wade's Military Road
Meanwhile, at Auchingarrich Forest near Comrie, Tilhill Forestry plans to create a new access road for timber harvesting.
Campaigner Steve Mallen said the proposed access road would lead on to the very narrow Glascorrie road.
The plan initially won planning permission but residents raised concerns about damage to a private water supply.
They believe that if contractors proceed with the project, they could be breaking the law.
Campaigners have since launched a formal complaint with the council against the project.
Mr Mallen said: "It's a tiny road with blind curves, steep inclines, very few passing places - the road is totally unsuitable for this volume of traffic.
"It will destroy verges, fencing, walls, and the road itself."
"There are already existing transport links, there is an existing public road available," he added. "The lack of consultation is clearly not an accident.
"It's a shame they didn't because that immediately created conflict and opposition when it could've been collaborative."
Scottish Forestry said timber haulage would be limited to six loads per day through Glascorrie Road and proposed mitigation measures would ensure there was no impact on the private water supply.
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: "The council is currently investigating a complaint made by the residents and it would be inappropriate to comment further while this is underway."
Tilhill Forestry declined to comment.
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