Cairngorms National Park Designation Order is slammed by the major conservation groups

The announcement by the Scottish Parliament of their final proposals for the setting up of the new Cairngorms National Park has been greeted by howls of protest from all the major conservation bodies, a national mountaineering organisation and several politicians.   

Here is a selection of their comments.

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Robin Harper MSP has commented to BSCG

"The present proposals for the so called Cairngorms National Park is a poor shadow of the original expectation. The splitting of the planning powers and the reduction in the size make absolutely no sense. For years there has been discussion about the possibility of putting the park up for qualification as a World Heritage Site. I am pretty certain boundaries and proposals for management would disqualify it entirely from consideration"

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Badenoch & Strathspey Conservation Group 

Press Release for Immediate Use 14th November 2002 

Call on MSPs to reject Unacceptable  Park Order  

Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group is shocked at the announcements. A spokesperson for the group commented: "Highland Council's record on planning in Strathspey is notorious. MSP's should reject this park order. To avoid unending conflict it now makes more sense to ditch this order and replace it with workable proposals  after the election."  

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For further information please contact Gus Jones Tel/fax 01479 821491 (Quote can be attributed to Dr Gus Jones Convener)

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"REJECT CAIRNGORMS PARK ORDER"    SAYS THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND 

With deep regret, The National Trust for Scotland today calls on the Scottish Parliament to reject the Scottish Executive’s final proposals for the Cairngorms National Park, which were published today under the Designation Order.  The Trust welcomes the inclusion of the Angus Glens, Strathdon, Glenlivet, Laggan and Dalwhinnie areas within the Park but sees no justification as to why the Perthshire hills from Blair Atholl to Drumochter continue to be excluded. 

“Why bother with the charade of a wide-ranging public consultation if the Executive largely ignores the response?” commented Robin Pellew, Chief Executive of the Trust.  “The Scottish Executive continues to ignore the voice of the people of Scotland.  The Trust can see no rational justification why the Angus Glens are included but the Perthshire hills are not.  The criteria for inclusion are set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000. These do not include local authority convenience as a justification.” 

The proposed southern boundary will continue to cut mountain ranges in half and does not follow logical landscape or environmental divisions.  It does not meet the criteria of ‘distinctive character’ and ‘coherent identity’ as set out in the Act: it does however follow the local authority boundary. 

The decision to leave planning powers with the local authorities will further undermine the effectiveness of the National Park.  There is a fundamental necessity to integrate the best interests of the local communities with the need for continued investment and protection of the natural heritage.  The Trust believes this can best be done by enhancing the planning powers of the Park Authority that includes democratically elected members from the local communities rather than relying on the four Local Authorities, who have no consistent approach across the whole Park. 

“The Scottish Executive planning proposals fly in the face of all the experience from the National Parks in the rest of the UK and Europe.  The Executive got it absolutely right with the first Park at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs so why do something so different for the Cairngorms?” asks Dr Pellew.  “The hybrid planning arrangements are a recipe for conflict and delay, and will hinder rather than encourage good conservation practice.” 

The Trust now calls on members of the Rural Development Committee and the Transport and Environment Committee to recommend rejection of the Order when it is laid before Parliament.  The Trust takes this position with deep regret and disappointment.  The Trust remains totally supportive of National Park status for the Cairngorms, but wants a Park that will work. 

“The current proposals will make success extremely difficult. They represent a huge missed opportunity.  The Committees and the Parliament should reject the Order, and tell the Executive to listen to the voice of the people,” said Dr Pellew. 

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Notes for Editors:

The National Trust for Scotland is an independent charity, which has statutory purposes to promote the conservation and enjoyment of Scotland’s cultural and natural heritage.  The Trust owns the  72,598-acre Mar Lodge Estate,  which will lie at the heart of the proposed Cairngorms National Park.. 

This policy was debated and agreed by the Trust’s governing Council which includes elected members representing the Trust’s 250,000 members 

Please contact John Mayhew, the Trust’s Policy & Planning Adviser for any further information or clarification.  He can be contacted on 0131 243 9522 or by email at jmayhew@nts.org.uk   

Release date: 14 November 2002

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.............and from the Cairngorm Campaign

14/11/02 - for immediate release. 

CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK FIASCO.

By cutting out Perthshire, Labour Minister Alan Wilson ignores his own expert advisers, the Scottish Parliament Rural Development Committee and respondents to his own consultation process. 

Contrary to the spin of the Environment Minister Alan Wilson MSP, about the increased size of the Cairngorms National Park, the most significant stark fact is that the area is still much reduced from the area recommended by its own appointed reporter Scottish Natural Heritage. That is the preliminary conclusion of the Cairngorms Campaign who have pressed for National Park designation for the Cairngorms. The Campaign are now calling on the Parliament to delay designation, until a future parliament.   

SNH had recommended that a significant stretch of Highland Perthshire should be included, advice that was strongly backed by the Rural Development Committee. The original SNH recommendation was for an area of 4580 square kilometres. The Alan Wilson area is reduced from that which included Perthshire by 17% to 3800sqkm. His claim today is based on the area he announced in May when he shrunk the SNH recommendation by 40%.

In response to the announcement Campaign Officer Bill Wright said:-

"This boundary has everything to do with Labour's political expediency and nothing to do with effective National Park designation. The fact that they are running the boundary across the tops of two of the finest and most remote mountain summits anywhere in the UK, with half in and half out, demonstrates how little regard they have had for the statutory conditions for designation.

Those conditions require that the area is of coherent identity and distinctive character and is of outstanding national importance because of its natural heritage. If wild and remote mountains like these do not have distinctive character it is a mystery how any part of Scotland can ever be designated a National Park.

"Frankly these proposals with their confused planning provisions will not work. The Executive studiously avoided appearing in the key gateway village of Blair Atholl, which they cut out, and chose instead to attend public meetings elsewhere. Instead of 'making it work together' the Executive have blown the Cairngorms apart.

For further info:- Bill Wright 07785-510456.  

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The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) is disappointed and appalled at the Scottish Executive’s latest proposals for a Cairngorms National Park, which threatens to leave the Park without any worthwhile and effective planning powers.

Mike Dales, the MCofS Access and Conservation Officer, said:

"This decision is astounding and demonstrates a total lack of awareness of the lessons that have been learned around the world, most notably in England and Wales, that a National Park should be a single planning authority if it is to deliver any meaningful protection and coordinated management".

The MCofS regards political interference from Deputy Finance Minister, Peter Peacock, as the main reason behind the Executive’s misguided decisions. He was the Convener of Highland Council in 1998 when the Council withdrew its objection to National Parks on the basis that any National Park in Highland would leave the planning powers in the hands of the local authority.

"Peter Peacock has hijacked this process and the result is that the Cairngorms continue to be left with a depressingly low level of protection. Areas of native woodland throughout the Highland Council segment of the proposed National Park are under severe threat from housing developments and this latest decision leaves such areas in very grave danger".

"There has got to be a huge question mark over a National Park without planning powers, and whether it is any better than no National Park at all".

The MCofS is pleased to see the area of the proposed Park being increased, but believes that the area between Blair Atholl and Drumochter is of the same landscape character and quality as areas within the proposed Park boundary. The only reason for the Executive to leave this area outside the boundary is political and about denying Perth and Kinross Council a place at the boardroom table. The MCofS is strongly of the belief that local authority boundaries should not determine which mountains are protected by the National Park.

The MCofS remains committed to the principles of National Parks and believes that the Cairngorms should be granted this special status, but following the Executive’s announcement we will continue to work for the inclusion of Perth and Kinross within the Park, as well as for the Park to have full planning powers.

The MCofS will be keeping mountaineers informed of this issue via its website, which is at: www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk

For further information, please contact Mike Dales on 01738 638 229, or by e-mail at mike@mountaineering-scotland.org.uk

Notes for Editors:

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) is the representative body for walkers, climbers, mountaineers and cross-country skiers in Scotland. It is a membership body with over 8,000 members, 135 clubs and various associate organisations and companies. It is run by an elected Executive Committee of over 25 volunteers and employs a National Officer, Access & Conservation Officer and a Mountain Safety Adviser. 

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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK SHAMBLES.

Labour Minister Allan Wilson has shown his contempt for the views of the Scottish Parliament Rural Development Committee, respondents to his own consultation process and his expert advisers.  

Environment Minister Allan Wilson MSP, has announced his conclusions on the boundary for the proposed Cairngorms National Park and the Planning Powers which the Park Authority should have. Having set out an indefensible boundary in the Draft Designation Order and a contorted split of Planning powers between the Park Authority and the Local Authorities he has now responded to the widespread criticisms by increasing the Park area to include parts of Angus but has still excluded the Perthshire elements leaving an area much reduced  from that recommended by the  appointed reporter Scottish Natural Heritage. The Minister’s proposals on Planning Powers do not seem to have changed to any significant degree. The Scottish Council for National Parks has expressed its dismay at the announcement.   The SNH recommendation included significant stretches of Highland Perthshire  and this was unanimously supported by the Rural Development Committee. The original SNH recommendation was for an area of 4580 square kilometres. The Allan Wilson area is reduced from that which included Perthshire by 17% to 3800sqkm. His claim today is based on the area he announced in May when he shrunk the SNH recommendation by 40%.   Robert Maund, Acting Chairman of SCNP said:-   "This boundary has no logic in terms of effective National Park designation. It runs along the tops of two remote mountain summits with half in and half out. How the Minister can justify this irrational approach beggars belief but it clearly has more to do with some political carve up than any regard for the statutory conditions for designation. These require the Park to have a coherent identity,  distinctive character and be of outstanding national importance because of its natural heritage. The Perthshire Highlands are clearly part of the area and to exclude them will inevitably lead to land management and planning problems in the medium and longer term.   Similarly, the Minister’s unwillingness to learn from the experience south of the border where various planning arrangements for National Parks were tried and failed and have been replaced by making the National Park Authorities, the Planning Authorities, condemns us to years of ineffective decision making where the over-riding needs of the National Park are likely to be distorted by vested interests and inter-authority rivalry.”