Considering Cairngorms National Park
Feedback from an Evening with Cairngorms National Park CEO by Ted Leeming
It was great to have at least 150 courteous local people listen to the experiences of Grant Moir, CEO of Cairngorms NP (CNP), and his responses to questions.
The following are my summary (as convener of the meeting) of his thoughts, in no particular order, which can be debated in the coming months.
Overview
He felt a unique strength of a National Park is that it can give focus to strategies and campaigns to deliver focused objectives, often otherwise performed in a more siloed environment. He was clear that the CNP is autonomous and has very little Government input on a day-today basis. He stated that every NP is different and needs to address local issues.
Board Composition and Governance
The CNP has 19 Board members, most of whom live locally. Twenty percent are elected from permanent residents in the regions invested in the CNP. (In the Galloway consultation, it is suggested that the Board should have 12 or 15 members, with 33% elected from the local population and another third nominated by the Regional Councils). When the CNP was approved, it spent some two years developing the National Park Plan (NP Plan), which decided, following an extensive consultation with the local people, the future strategy for the Park. The NP Plan is delivered by the CNP staff and is updated every five years. He noted that Scottish National Parks are very different from their neighbours south of the border.
Community Engagement
He emphasised that working with the community should be core to all thinking in any NP. He said that, as with any entity, the CNP is an ongoing project; they don’t always get it right but seek to work with the local communities to address problems as they arise. We should know how successful they have been when their community satisfaction survey on the CNP is published in January.
Economic Impact and Job Creation
He noted the CNP brings an additional £400 million a year into the local economy. On jobs, he explained that they have brought new jobs to the area and work with local businesses to offer apprenticeships.
Tourism
The CNP actively encourages visitors across the year to minimise summer pressures and provide an extended ‘season’. They do not seek to increase summer visitors but focus on the 'shoulder' months to help year-round employment. Some 50 full-time and 80 volunteer rangers help manage the pressures, acknowledging that seasonal rangers are taken on for the summer period when pressures are at their height. They have introduced various measures to address tourism pressures, including facilities and strategies to draw people around the Park to reduce pressures on honeypot locations. They are working on public transport options to help reduce car numbers but recognise more needs to be done.
Planning
The CNP ‘calls in’ some 8% of planning applications when it becomes the decision-making body. Otherwise, the Regional Councils retain authority in this area. Most of the ‘called in’ applications are approved (94.7% according to LINK). He noted that the CNP seeks to promote economic development, citing examples of infrastructure, services and business projects delivered over the years. It is a statutory consultee on forestry applications.
Housing
He recognised that housing was complex and that prices within and outside NPs have risen dramatically. On second homes, he noted that this was a matter for the Regional Councils and could be discouraged through rates within and outwith NPs. On affordable housing, he said that the latest CNP Plan targets delivering 75% of new housing as affordable, primarily to accommodate the local workforce.
Traffic and Access
On traffic, he noted that this was not within the gift of the CNP but that they worked with the relevant authorities to deliver solutions. However, the CNP is responsible for recreational access.
This article is part of a series of readers' responses to the Galloway National Park proposal published in the Glenkens Gazette Issue 145. Read the others in the series below.
The Glenkens Gazette, Glenkens Hub and Glenkens Community & Arts Trust do not have a view for or against the National Park proposal. We are, however, committed to helping our communities find the information they need to make up their own mind. To support this, we host an information page on the Hub and are publishing articles in the Gazette periodically. If you have any questions about the proposal do get in touch and we will see if we can find the right people for an answer!