New National Parks for Scotland

National Parks are beautiful and inspiring places enjoyed by many – so why don’t we have more of them?

I declare an interest, I love our National Parks. I have walked the hills of the Trossachs and the Cairngorms made easier by the infrastructure of our National Parks. As a child, I spent many a summer holiday in the Lake District, which remains one of my favourite places on earth. 

Our National Parks are very different places. The wild open spaces of the Cairngorms, contrast with the generally gentler terrain of the Trossachs or the Lake District. At my age, the sight of a tea shop or pub in the next valley is a welcome sight, even if it adds to the development!  National Parks are not museums. They are living places where people make their living as well as respecting the environment.

Last month, was the 70^thanniversary of the 1949 Act that gave rise to the UK’s National Parks. Yet another ground-breaking piece of legislation passed by the post-war Labour government. The Act followed years of campaigning activity – most famously the mass trespass of Kinder Scout in the Peak District in 1932. In Scotland, the Ramsay Report (1945) recommended five areas, which received a special status somewhat short of being National Parks.  

There is a Scottish Campaign for National Parks, which seeks to preserve and protect our existing parks. They also make a case for new National Parks in a well-argued report.  It makes the point that Scotland’s landscape ranks amongst the best in the world, yet out of 3,500 National Parks worldwide, Scotland has only two. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs (2002) and Cairngorms (2003).

Previous expert reports recommended the establishment of at least four or five National Parks in Scotland. Most recently more Coastal or Marine National Parks with two possible areas shortlisted. The campaign argues for a national strategy to designate more National Parks and improve the operation and governance of the existing ones. The case has been developed by the Scottish National Parks Development project. 

The National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 was one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament after devolution. Section 2 of the Act sets out a broad criterion for an area to be designated as a National Park. On that basis, the campaign has recommended the areas identified below. Two of these areas, Borders and Galloway have developed more detailed plans. Argyll and Bute Council has published a report on a Coastal and Marine National Park (CMNP) for the Argyll Islands and Coast.

Another early piece of Scottish Parliament legislation, the Land Reform Act 2003, gives us proper access rights to the countryside. However, our path networks are pretty limited, and like most public services have suffered from austerity.

In England, the UK government has organised the Glover Review of designated landscapes, which has published an interim report. This suggests that there is much to do to improve access, increase funding, reduce housing costs and strengthen governance. There has also been a growth in non-statutory designations. 

Another new initiative is the concept of the National Park City. They seek to apply the benefits of traditional National Parks to cities. A campaign has been started to designate Glasgow as the first in Scotland. They join several campaigns across the world with similar aims, including London.

Apart from the usual free-market dafties like the Adam Smith Institute, few people are against National Parks in principle. The opposition tends to come from some commercial and landowning interests who fear more significant development restrictions. Despite a manifesto commitment, the current Scottish Government has done nothing to look at new designations, claiming to focus on the existing provision. 

There is plenty of criticism of how National Parks are run, including this grand rant by George Monbiot. So, any new National Parks would need to consider the governance arrangements.  Scottish legislation is pretty flexible on this issue.

In conclusion, I think there is a strong case for more National Parks in Scotland. It will raise issues from control and ownership of land to government financing and the broader rural economy. These are challenges we should face to protect and improve our natural environment for everyone.