On 22 June BSCG discovered that a New National Park Plan with a a forward by Minister for the Environment and Climate change has been posted on the CNPA website.

The Badenoch & Strathspey Conservation Group has commented on this:-

"Responsible planning in National Parks should be one of the foremost methods by which landscapes, habitats and species are protected. The quality of Scotland’s natural environment is fundamental to people’s livelihoods and quality of life. 
We are concerned that aspects of the consultation process were flawed, ignoring some serious concerns about safeguarding the natural and cultural heritage and giving insufficient attention to national interests. It is wrong if many of those making the effort to respond to the consultation end up concluding that the process was a ‘stitch up’ from the start, with short term thinking taking undue precedence. We do not see the minister’s expressions of approval for the consultation process as reflecting the experience of our community group. 

We are concerned that this document is devoid of serious targets properly reflecting the statutory aims of the park and that this deficiency will open the way to further damaging development. 

We and others have queried why the National Park Authority has launched into producing a new National Park Plan before the first plan had run its course or the out of date 2002 Cairngorms Biodiversity Action Plan has been updated. Certainly the second park plan with its shortened horizons appears depressingly devoid of tangible long term targets. Pretty pictures and fine words are one thing but for a key document like this to be thin on solid commitments cannot bode well for the interests of the public, our natural heritage or Scotland’s international reputation."