SWLG Home Action Wild Land News About us

Read the SWLG response to the SNH Consultation Document: "A proposal for a Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park"

Wild Land News no 52, Spring 2001

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park

Article

Fiona Anderson and John Digney examine the consultation document in preparation for the establishment of Scotland's first National Park

If ever there was an illustration of the need to rationalise designations in Scotland, it is the map on the inside cover of this document. Regional Park, Environmentally Sensitive Area, National Scenic Areas, Forest Parks, National Nature Reserves, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation.. and so on. You name them - Loch Lomond and the Trossachs has got them, and many of them overlapping. A pretty pattern on the map, but meaningless to most people.

The consultation document was launched last November and sought responses on three main topics concerning the proposed National Park - Area, Powers and Representation. The SWLG Steering Team made its response in early February.

Area

To the north, the boundary would dissect the Crianlarich and Tyndrum hills. We suggested that the extended boundary should be adopted to include these ranges in their entirety, as the usual hillwalking approaches are generally from the north and would otherwise be excluded. Similarly, to the north-east we urged the inclusion of the ever-popular Ben Vorlich and Stuc a' Chroin, together with Loch Earn because of its water-sports activity.

To the south-west the Argyll Forest Park extends as a limb to the Clyde, but its character is similar to that of the main area. National Park status might well provide the incentive for much-needed re-structuring of the dense commercial forestry plantations that have disfigured the region, and this together with its popularity as a recreational area persuaded us to vote it in.

To the south the situation was less clear-cut. We would have liked to see Flanders Moss included because of its important conservation status, but the intensity of local opposition to National Park status would have made it politically difficult at this stage. As a compromise, the area around the Lake of Menteith seems a logical candidate and we urged its inclusion.

Powers

Strategic planning. which brings in a whole series of wider concerns from National Planning Guidelines. through population growth, to trunk roads, housing, tourism etc. is best left with the local authorities, with a few exceptions, namely forestry strategy, transport integration and traffic management. Indicative Forestry Strategies are advisory, but very significant in the Loch Lomond/Trossachs area, and should be prepared by the NPA in consultation with the local authorities. Transport and traffic are also important in a National Park so close to the Central Belt, as reflected in SNH's comment in their first report that "traffic management is expected to be critica1 in this area. It should be stated unequivocally that the local authority must liaise closely with the NPA on this and transport integration. All three will be included in the statutory Local Plan prepared by the NPA.

The report, in seeking views on the main issue, namely planning controls, makes scant reference to land use changes not subject to planning control which will raise the most difficult problems for the NPA. The importance and scope of the non-statutory National Park Plan should be referred to, with reference to the large number of agencies, authorities and land managers, public and private, who will be involved in drawing it up. Forestry Grant applications, agri-environmental schemes, hydro-electric proposals and bulldozed tracks are examples of activities which would have a significant effect on the National Park, but are not subject to normal planning controls. To stand the best chance of success in this, Scotland's first National Park, these agencies and managers could well be exhorted to do more than merely consult the NPA, but to work with it to achieve the best environmental gains for all concerned.

Representation

Although the timetable for establishment of the National Park has slipped from this summer to April of next year, the process is well under way. We have waited a long time for this.