Scotland's New National Park Appraisal Panel: final report

Panel Recommendations

The Panel’s role is to provide advice to Ministers (in the form of a summary appraisal report) on the extent to which nominated areas meet each of the criteria and could therefore be considered for designation as new National Parks. It is not the purpose of the Panel to make a decision on which nominated area, or areas should be selected as ‘National Park Proposals’ or designated as a National Park.

The Panel welcomes the interest in new National Parks from communities and organisations across Scotland and acknowledges the considerable amount of work that has been undertaken by all five groups that submitted nominations.

In conclusion, the Panel recommends that there are three nominations which sufficiently meet the criteria and could be considered by Scottish Ministers as potential candidates for designation as a new National Park. They are Galloway, Lochaber and Tay Forest. Each of these nominations have different attributes and strengths and these have been noted above under panel conclusions, along with other considerations that Scottish Ministers may find helpful.

The panel notes that, following the decision by Scottish Ministers of an area or areas to go forward as National Park Proposal(s), a statutory designation process will begin, as set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000. This includes a detailed exploration of the National Park proposal led by a ‘reporter’. This process involves consultation and engagement with local communities, stakeholders, businesses and interest groups in order to further develop, test and refine the National Park proposal in light of local views and circumstances. The reporter will be required to report to Ministers on the findings of this engagement and consultation and to provide advice on whether the area meets the conditions for National Park status, the desirability of designating the area in question (with or without modifications) and what the area, powers (including planning powers), governance arrangements and costs of the National Park should be.

Given the limited time and resources available to the groups to engage with local communities during the nomination period, the panel wishes to stress the importance of further community and stakeholder engagement and consultation in any area that is announced as a National Park Proposal. Ensuring sustained and comprehensive engagement will be vital to the success and inclusivity of the proposal, allowing for the incorporation of diverse perspectives and the addressing of community needs and concerns effectively.

The panel emphasises the importance of integrating equality considerations into the reporter’s activities, particularly through proactive engagement with protected characteristics, including ethnicity, age, disability and intersectionality. It is essential that an equality-focused approach is systematically incorporated into every phase of the reporter investigation and subsequent phases of the work to designate a new National Park. This includes the initial scoping, consultation, development, and eventual establishment of any new National Park and its governing authority. This should include undertaking equality impact assessments to ensure that equality and diversity considerations are mainstreamed within any new National Park’s governance, recruitment, plans, strategies, projects and its day to day operations.

Finally, the panel notes that there may be other mechanisms which could be helpful for addressing some of the opportunities and challenges that have been outlined in the nominations and that nominating groups may wish to explore these further if their nomination is not taken forward as a National Park Proposal. It is particularly notable that the nominations generally seek greater co-ordination and integration of decision making, therefore groups may wish to explore other options such as Regional Land Use Partnerships.