A legal challenge to the Cairngorms National Park's Local Plan by a group of environmental bodies has been dropped.

The appeal failed in the courts system twice before it was appealed in the UK Supreme Court in 2013, where a hearing date had yet to be set.

By abandoning the appeal, the path is now clear for a proposed 1,500 home development at An Camas Mor and other large scale developments in the Cairngorms National Park.

The group behind the action – the Cairngorms Campaign, the Scottish Campaign for National Parks and the Badenoch & Strathspey Conservation Group – paid the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) £38,000 towards legal costs.

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Gus Jones, Convener of the Badenoch & Strathspey Conservation Group said: "The reason for our challenge terminating at this stage is because the Supreme Court refused to limit our liability to the CNPA's legal costs. No charity could proceed on the basis of unknown costs.

"The incredible level of public support we have received demonstrates the deep and far-reaching public concern that exists about the Park Authority's unsustainable and developer-driven approach to planning taken in their Local Plan, which threatens the natural heritage that the Park was set up to protect."

However, while CNPA Chief Executive Grant Moir welcomed the news, he stated his disappointment that the case had gone on for so long.

He said: "I am obviously delighted that this is now the end of the matter but disappointed that it was not brought to an end sooner. The significant legal fees are not the only issue; we've invested a considerable amount of staff time and energy defending the appeal over the last few years.

"It's frustrating to think that this is time and money that would have been better targeted towards conservation projects in the Cairngorms National Park."

(LM)