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 by the nearby land management activities, including various construction projects on/adjacent to the A83 at 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, the existing A83 carriageway within the scheme incorporates the ‘Dumbarton - Tarbet - Inveraray - Tyndrum Military Road’, which is listed on the Historic Environment Record (HER) database. No National Record of the Historic Environment (NHRE) sites lie within 300m of scheme extents.

Landscape and visual effects

The proposed scheme is wholly located within the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park (LLTNP) (NatureScot Sitelink), which 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 proposed scheme is not located within a National Scenic Area (NSA) (Scottish Government).

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 760m south of Glen Etive and Glen Fyne Special Protection Area (SPA) (SiteLink).

Due to ecological connectivity with the SPA, a Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) has been completed. Refer to the ‘Biodiversity Impacts and Mitigation’ section below for further details.

The scheme lies within the Beinn an Lochain Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) (SiteLink). See below for result of consultation with NatureScot regarding SSSI Consent.

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 Ecological Constraints Surveys (ECS) in October 2024 and 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 ‘alluvium - clay, silt, sand and gravel’ and ‘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. Parent material is described as ‘drifts derived from arenaceous schists and strongly metamorphosed argillaceous schists of the Dalradian Series’ (Scotland's Soils).

The scheme is located within a ‘Class 3’ and ‘Class 5’ category on the Carbon and Peatland 2016 Map. Class 3 relates to areas of peaty soil with some peat, and 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
  • Rip-rap (rock armour)
  • Geotextile membrane
  • Coarse rock fill
  • Granular fill material
  • Topsoil
  • VRS post, sockets and barriers

The value of the scheme exceeds £350,000 (currently valued at £450,000) and therefore a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) will be produced.

Site compound will be located in the area of hardstanding adjacent to the southbound lane of the A83 carriageway. Expected wastes will include inert spoil material and rock/boulder material, which will both be reused and/or left on site as part of the revetment. Where this is not possible, spoil material will be disposed of at a licenced waste facility.

Noise and vibration

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 65-67dB (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 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.

There is a layby at the northern extents of the scheme accessed via the northbound lane of the A83 carriageway, which is to be used for the site compound. There is also an area of hardstanding directly opposite the layby on the southbound side of the carriageway.

The northbound layby is the start point for the ‘Beinn an Lochain’ route listed on WalkHighlands. However, there are no 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.

Road drainage and the water environment

The works will involve in-water bank reinforcement works within and adjacent to an unnamed and unclassified waterbody (SEPA). This watercourse is shown on the 1:50,000 scale Ordnance Survey maps, as such is subject to regulation by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

The above watercourse discharges into the Kinglas Water (river) (ID: 10217) 700m downstream (north) of the scheme extents and was classified by SEPA under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) as having an overall status of ‘poor ecological potential’ in 2024.

Drainage within the scheme consists of roadside drainage ditches and natural run-offs points into watercourses.

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).