Description of local environment

Air quality

There are no Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) within 10km of the scheme extents.

There are no registered sites on the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) located within 10km of the scheme.

There are no Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMS) within 10km of the scheme extents.

Due to the rural location of the works, baseline air quality is likely to be primarily influenced by traffic travelling along the A83, with secondary sources likely derived from the nearby land management activities, including various construction projects on/adjacent to the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful (RaBT).

Cultural heritage

No Conservation Areas, Listed Buildings, Garden & Designed Landscapes, Battlefields, Scheduled Monuments or World Heritage Sites were identified within 300m of the scheme (Pastmap).

Of lesser cultural heritage importance, several Historic Environment Record (HER) and National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) sites lie within 300m of scheme extents, the closest of which ‘Easan Dubh (Shieling-huts)’ overlaps with the north section of scheme extents.

Landscape and visual effects

The scheme falls within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park (LLTNP) (8621) but is not located within any National Scenic Area (NSA) (SiteLink). LLTNP has the following special general qualities:

  • A world-renowned landscape famed for its rural beauty
  • Wild and rugged highlands contrasting with pastoral lowlands
  • Water in its many forms
  • The rich variety of woodlands
  • Settlements nestled within a vast natural backdrop
  • Famous through-routes
  • Tranquillity
  • The easily accessible landscape splendour

The scheme lies within a rural stretch of A83 approximately 1.8km north of the RaBT viewpoint. Land surrounding the scheme consists of lochs, rocky hills, heath fen, and grassland.

Land use in the area surrounding the scheme extents are recorded as plantation, rough grazing, and freshwater area (HLA Map).

The Landscape Character Type in the scheme area is identified as ‘252 Upland Glens – Loch Lomond & the Trossachs’, the key characteristics of which are (NatureScot):

  • Often narrow with little flat glen floor, strongly enclosed by steep hill slopes of the adjacent Steep Ridges and Hills and Highland Summits.
  • Steep glen sides often patterned with rocky outcrops, boulders, and screes but also extensively forested, particularly on lower slopes.
  • Tributary burns and rivers cut deep gullies into slopes and many feature waterfalls and cascades, pools, and rocky outcrops.
  • Walled pastures sometimes occasionally occurring on lower (usually south-facing) slopes. Heather covers better drained areas, and bright green flushes appear at spring lines on hill slopes.
  • Some glens covered with extensive coniferous forestry.
  • Notable ancient and semi-ancient woodlands of oak and birch in some glens, Natural regeneration of scrub woodland where grazing has declined as in the Luss Glens.
  • Relict wood pasture and Caledonian pine woodlands evident in some areas,
  • Scattered trees and native woodland trace the edges of burns.
  • Sparsely settled but with some isolated farms in lower reaches of glens, these often south-facing.
  • Significant cultural features in more open glens, including shielings and abandoned field systems.
  • Areas of crofting evident on some lower slopes.
  • Some important historic strategic routes for communications and accommodate key road and rail links today for example.
  • Classic views channelled up and down the Glens, with steep side slopes framing landscapes that lie beyond them.

The A83 Trunk Road connects Tarbet with Lochgilphead, Kennacraig and Campbeltown. It commences at the A82 / A83 junction within Tarbet leading generally south-westwards for a distance of 158 kilometres to (and including) its junction with New Quay Street at the Campbeltown Ferry Terminal. The A83 is a single carriageway along its length.

Biodiversity

The scheme is located 500m south of Glen Etive and Glen Fyne Special Protection Area (SPA). Due to ecological connectivity between the SPA and area of works, a Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) has been completed. Refer to the ‘Biodiversity Impacts and Mitigation’ section below for further details.

The scheme lies approximately 100m east of the Beinn an Lochain Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Atlas holds no records of bird species within 2km of the schemes (only including records during the past ten years and of open-use attributions (OGL, CC0, CC-BY)); however, various species of birds are present in the area. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), all wild birds and their active nests are protected, with certain species receiving additional protections.

The NBN Atlas was also searched for records of invasive plants and injurious weeds (as listed in the Network Management Contract (NMC)) under the same criteria; no records were returned.

A search using Transport Scotland’s Asset Management Performance System (AMPS) recorded no instances of invasive non-native species (INNS) of plants or injurious weeds within the scheme extent.

Habitat in the surrounding area comprises of lochs and streams, sparse conifer woodland, rough grassland, and rocky slopes.

There are no areas of woodland listed on the Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) within 300m of the scheme (NatureScot).

There are no areas of woodland or individual trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) within 300m of the scheme extents (LLTNP TPO Map).

BEAR Scotland undertook an Ecological Constraints Survey (ECS) in May 2026.

Geology and soils

There are no Geological Conservation Review Sites (GCRS) or geologically designated SSSI within 300m of the scheme (NatureScot).

Bedrock within the scheme extent is comprised of ‘Beinn Bheula Schist Formation - pelite, semipelite and psammite’ which is a metamorphic bedrock. Superficial deposits are noted as ‘Hummocky (moundy) Glacial Deposits – diamicton, sand and gravel’ (British Geological Society).

Soil within the scheme consists of ‘peaty gleyed podzols with peaty gleys with dystrophic semi-confined peat’ (Scotland's Soils).

The scheme is located within a ‘Class 5’ category on the Carbon and Peatland 2016 Map. Class 5 relates to peat soil with no peatland vegetation (Scotland’s Soils).

Material assets and waste

The proposed works are required to maintain the safety of the A83. The works will require the following materials:

  • Rock bags
  • Geotextile (RG1000 terram) membrane
  • Type 6B fill and class 1 fill
  • Topsoil and grass seeds
  • VRS barriers

The value of the scheme does not exceed £350,000 and therefore a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) is not required.

Site compound will be located in the area of hardstanding adjacent to the southbound lane of the A83 carriageway. Expected wastes will include the old VRS barriers, concrete (which will both be disposed of at a licenced waste facility) and excavated material which will be reused on site.

Noise and vibration

For residential, community and commercial receptors refer to the ‘Population and Human Health’ section below.

The works do not fall within a Candidate Noise Management Area (CNMA) as defined by Transport Scotland’s Transportation Noise Action Plan (TNAP) 2024-2028.

Modelled noise data for the A83 at the scheme extent shows that the day, evening, and night levels (Lden) fall between 65-70dB (Scotland's Noise).

Due to the rural location of the scheme, baseline noise levels are likely to be primarily influenced by traffic travelling along the A83, with secondary sources derived from nearby land management activities, including various construction projects on/adjacent to the A83 at the RaBT.

Population and human health

There are no residential or commercial properties within 300m of the scheme.

There are no provisions for non-motorised road users (NMUs) or access points within the scheme. However, one Forestry Commission Scotland access gate lies approximately 170m north of scheme extents and is accessed via the southbound side of the carriageway.

There are no laybys or parking areas within scheme extents.

There are no walking routes listed on WalkHighlands, National Cycle Network (NCN) Routes, or core paths (Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park) within 300m of the scheme.

Traffic management will consist of northbound lane closure with two-way temporary traffic lights and a reduced speed limit in place for the duration of works.

Road drainage and the water environment

An unnamed watercourse is spanned by the A83 within scheme extents and discharges into Kinglas Water (ID: 10217) approximately 700m downstream. Kinglas Water lies approximately 430m north of the scheme extents at its closest point and was classified by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) as having an overall status of ‘poor ecological potential’ in 2024 (SEPA).

The scheme is located within the ‘Oban and Kintyre’ groundwater body (ID: 150698) which was classified by SEPA as having an overall status of ‘good’ in 2024 (SEPA). This also recorded as a Drinking Water Protected Area (DWPA) (Ground) (Scotland’s Environment).

The SEPA Flood Map highlights small areas with high likelihood (i.e. 10% chance each year) of surface water and small watercourses flooding within scheme extents. No likelihood of river or coastal water flooding is recorded.

Climate

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (‘The Act’), and its subsequent amendment under the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, sets the framework for the Scottish Government to address climate change. The Act has an ambitious target to reach Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, with any residual emissions balanced by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is five years earlier than the rest of the UK due to the greater potential for carbon sequestration in Scotland.

The Act was amended to replace interim targets with carbon budgets. Carbon budgets are legally binding caps on greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland over five-year periods. In line with the Act, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) published advice on the level of Scotland’s four carbon budgets, covering the period 2026 to 2045, recommending what the Scottish Government sets its carbon budgets at for annual average levels of emissions. These recommendations are based on an ambitious but credible route to Net Zero for Scotland by 2045.

Emissions reductions from surface transport are the largest contribution to meeting the first two carbon budgets. The pathway for surface transport emission reduction is primarily driven by the uptake of electric vehicles, in addition to measures to enable a shift from car use to public transport and active travel, which all play a role in reducing emissions from fossil fuel cars. Ensuring efficiency of existing transport infrastructure and improving/providing new active travel facilities is therefore important to support these carbon reduction budgets.

Transport is the largest contributor to harmful climate emissions in Scotland. In response to the climate emergency, Transport Scotland are committed to reducing their emissions by 75% by 2030 and to the above noted legally binding target of net-zero by 2045. Transport Scotland is committed to reducing carbon across Scotland’s transport network and this commitment is being enacted through the Mission Zero for Transport (Mission Zero for transport | Transport Scotland).