We are rushing out our summer newsletter to update members and supporters on the recent announcement from the Scottish Government that they are axing plans for a National Park in Galloway.  Our reaction was quoted in many papers the day after the announcement and you can read it in full, along with those of MSPs and SCNP in this e-newsletter.

Our analysis of the consultation report by NatureScot confirms that misinformation has had an insidious impact on the outcome. The Park was scrapped, despite Government knowledge that most of the arguments being used against the National Park had no basis in evidence. You can read all about this in this blog which should also be published in the Herald today.

We will now be considering what our next steps are. We are very concerned about the way that the consultation has seemingly been used as a de facto referendum by the Scottish Government in their decision making. This was evidenced by the Cabinet Secretary emphasising the exact numbers of pros and antis from the consultation response despite the NatureScot report cautioning against the approach in their report. This problem was compounded by the Scottish Government failing to weigh any of the answers according to whether their objections to a National Park had a basis in fact.

But this newsletter is not just about the National Park decision, we also have news on an imminent planning decision, a report on evidence that Nikki gave at the Scottish Parliament committee discussing the Natural Environment Bill, a chance to be involved with shaping the future of land reform in Scotland, and a report on Local Nature Reserves from APRS member Alastair Macbeth.