Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon made an announcement on 29 May that there will be no National Park in Galloway. Here we look at the content of the announcement, record our statement following the decision, as well as highlighting some of the responses from MSPs in the chamber after the announcement.
The Announcement
In her announcement to say there will be no National Park in Galloway, Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon, relied heavily on the numbers registering whether they wanted a National park or not (which was the first question in the consultation). This made the consultation into a de facto referendum and gave weight to reasoning based on misinformation about national parks. Kat has written an analysis of the consultation report and how the misinformation of the campaign against the National Park influenced the decision making which you can also read.
Below we give our own response to the announcement and also highlight some of the responses from MSPs in the Chamber after the announcement.
The Responses from other MPs
Many of the MSPs hit back hard against the decision. There was a lot of disappointment and incredulity in the chamber regarding the decision, especially as there was no alternative offered and no pledge, even, to offer more funding for the Biosphere.
Colin Smyth, South Scotland Region MSP (Labour)
“For too long, Galloway has been Scotland’s forgotten corner. Today, the Government made it clear that it wants to tear down the welcome to Dumfries and Galloway signs and put up no entry ones instead. Why is it that every idea that this incompetent, useless Government touches falls apart? Why is its only ambition for Galloway to turn the region into a dumping ground for wind farms, with no local jobs?
“The cabinet secretary knows that she could have brought forward plans for Galloway that supported farming and forestry and helped them thrive. She could have built something special and made a change for the better. Instead, she has taken the easy way out and walked away. This do-nothing Government has failed to set out an alternative to its inaction. There is no plan B to fix a local economy that is built on low pay, and there is no action to stop the fastest depopulation in mainland Scotland.
“We know that national park status brings more than £10 million a year of direct funding from the Government. Is that money still on the table, or is this just one more betrayal by a Government that has given up on Galloway?”
Sharon Dowey, South Scotland Region MSP (Conservative)
“The cabinet secretary mentioned the important issues that people in Ayrshire care deeply about, from roads, affordable housing and health services to business investment, environmental protection and opportunities for young people. Those concerns have not changed. Can the cabinet secretary tell us more about what the renewed focus will look like and when it will start to deliver for the people of south-west Scotland? The statement also mentions strong regional partnerships and structures, including the UNESCO biosphere. Concerns were raised recently about the long-term funding for that Will the cabinet secretary commit to looking into it?”
Sarah Boyack, Lothian (Labour)
“Given that Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park generates £540 million a year and supports more than 6,000 jobs, and that the expanded Cairngorms national park generates £419 million annually and supports 5,400 jobs, what is the Scottish Government’s plan? What specific actions will it take and what investment will it make to ensure that communities in Galloway and Ayrshire do not miss out?”
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
“The Galloway national park was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for local communities to deliver investment in tourism, the food economy, nature, transport and housing, while getting more local control over forestry and wind farm developments. All that has been lost because of a failure of the Government—and some local politicians, such as Mr Carson—to show leadership and to counter an aggressive misinformation campaign from landed interests. Communities in Perthshire, meanwhile, showed majority public support for a new Tay forest national park, despite facing a similar aggressive misinformation campaign. Will the Government now re-engage with that bid for Scotland’s third national park, or has it simply given up on the idea altogether?”
Other comments:
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
I declare an interest, as my sons are Gallovidians and I lived and worked there for many years, when I saw the beautiful landscape buried by the Forestry Commission overplanting Sitka spruce.
I find the reporter’s results disappointing—I understand them, but they are disappointing—as Galloway could well do with increased tourism opportunities, which would provide work that would help to redress the imbalance in demographics.
Elena Whitham (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (SNP)
How can the Scottish Government help to support the vital work of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Partnership—the first UNESCO biosphere in Scotland—to fully realise its potential and aims of creating sustainable tourism across my constituency of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, especially now, when the biosphere’s funding and sustainability are in question? The partnership has, to date, received amazing buy-in from community groups, towns, villages and businesses that are working to increase biodiversity efforts in low-carbon days out for residents and visitors to the area.
The Responses from APRS and SCNP
Kat Jones, Director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland said:
“The news that Galloway is no longer under consideration to be Scotland’s next National Park should send a chill down the spine of everyone campaigning to make the world a better place. That a policy so popular with the public, and a designation with so much promise for the region, has been dropped, seemingly in response to a well funded media campaign spreading fear and misinformation, is a tragedy.
“But this is not just a tragedy for the people of Galloway and southern Ayrshire, who were set to benefit most from the National Park, this decision impoverishes all of us. National Parks are a recognition of the best of our Nation’s landscapes and this decision will impact Scotland’s standing as a country that values and protects its nature.
“This decision is a betrayal of the Galloway people who have worked tirelessly for seven years to bring well deserved, national recognition for the special landscapes of their area.
“If the Scottish Government can’t muster the energy to get a policy as popular, with as many co-benefits, and with such cross-party support, as a National Park over the line, how will we make the far more challenging changes we will need to stave off the nature and climate emergencies?”
John Thomson, Chair of the Scottish Campaign for National Parks said:
“It is deeply sad that misunderstandings about the role and impact of National Parks, together with intensive and often misleading lobbying, should have deprived Scotland’s people of the third National Park that they were promised little more than three years ago. The country’s two existing National Parks are already at the forefront in tackling the ever more pressing climate and biodiversity emergency, and in leading the way to the greener, healthier and happier wellbeing economy that the Scottish Government said it was pursuing.
“A new National Park for Scotland was supported by all political parties. The Ministers’ decision represents a major failure to capitalise on Scotland’s peerless combination of natural and cultural assets. For Galloway it is a huge missed opportunity to secure not only profile and resources but a stronger say over its future. All those with the region’s interests truly at heart will now have to redouble their efforts to protect its precious landscapes and habitats from the many threats that they face”.
Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) is Scotland’s Countryside Charity. They campaign to protect, enhance and promote Scotland’s countryside and rural landscapes for everyone’s benefit www.aprs.scot
The Scottish Campaign for National Parks (SCNP) is the national charity that campaigns to protect and promote the cause of and case for National Parks in Scotland.www.scnp.org.uk
Together APRS and SCNP have been campaigning for a new National Park for Scotland since 2013 when they published ‘Unfinished Business: a National Parks Strategy for Scotland. Galloway was one of the areas that this document recommended to become a National Park.
More news on National Parks
With the axing of the plans for a Galloway National Park this week, this analysis of the comparisons of the campaign against the Park with the campaign against the deposit return scheme is especially prescient.
On Thursday the Scottish Government is expected to announce their decision on the proposed Galloway and Ayrshire National Park. This comes after NatureScot, who carried out the consultation on the new National Park, passed their report to Ministers on 5th May. APRS and other campaigners call for the Park to be designated without delay.
Nikki Sinclair, our National Parks Project Manager, gave evidence to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee of the Scottish Parliament on the Natural Environmental Bill. This Bill, in part, updates some of the legislation around National Parks and we hope will improve how they function and their effectiveness.