NORTH EAST MOUNTAIN TRUST

RESOLUTION DATED 1OTH DECEMBER 2002 REGARDING THE DESIGNATION ORDER FOR 

THE CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK

Dear Ministers and MSPs

     The North East Mountain Trust wish to bring to your attention the following
motion, and support papers, as issued by NEMT and circulated to MSPs,
Ministers and the Press.

      Kind regards

      Jennifer Cook
NEMT Chairwoman

 INTRODUCTION

Aberdeen based North East Mountain Trust recognises that the revised draft Designation Order for the Cairngorms National Park does not represent the best options available to serve the interests of the Scottish people.    

In order to address this concern the North East Mountain Trust called an Emergency General Council Meeting on 4^th December, 2002, in Aberdeen, where the following Emergency Motion was unanimously supported.  

(Appended to this Motion are two papers produced by the North East Mountain Trust, with the guidance of experts in planning, to dispel any of the wrecking information that has been dispersed in association with both of the vital issues included in the Motion.)  

       That this Council resolves to request the Scottish Executive Ministers and Officers, the Scottish Parliament’s Transport and Environment Committee and Rural Development Committee, and all MSP’s, delay the Cairngorms National Park Designation Order until the following amendments have been made:

(a)        AMENDMENT ONE:   to give the Cairngorms National Park Authority the same planning powers as already given to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, and as given since 1995 to all National Park Authorities in England and Wales.   This includes the South Downs National Park designated by the Westminster Government in late 2002. 

(b)        AMENDMENT TWO:   to include within the area of the Park all land recommended by the Executive’s statutory advisers Scottish Natural Heritage.

In the event that the Executive decides not to include the foregoing amendments, the North East Mountain Trust calls on MSPs to vote against such decision of the Executive because the decision would be detrimental to the widest public interest of the people of Scotland and beyond.  

If the foregoing amendments are not included, on the regionally, nationally and internationally important issue of a Cairngorms National Park, the public would have been better off without a Scottish Parliament.  In the absence of a Scottish Parliament, Labour’s pledge to establish Scottish National Parks would have resulted in Scotland coming under a Scottish extension of existing UK legislation on national parks, and hence getting a Cairngorms Park that would be worthy of Scotland and many other countries.   So far, the Scottish Executive, Ministers, and Parliament have let Scotland down shamefully by, eg, not adhering to the criteria for National Park designation as listed, by the Scottish Parliament itself, in primary legislation under National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000.   

There is still time to set things right.  If, however, appropriate action is not taken promptly, the long-term national public interest in the Cairngorms continues to be placed a poor second to very short-term expediency involving a minority of party politicians and such betrayal will not be forgotten.  

       4^th December 2002

ENDS 

NORTH EAST MOUNTAIN TRUST - CNP PLANNING ISSUES – Motion Paper One 

 THE FACTS: 

1.        Claims that the issues in the Cairngorms are different to those in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs are unfounded: 

·       Land management issues are not outwith planning system control.   In fact, issues, eg, bulldozed tracks and forestry may be controlled by ordinary planning applications.

·       Number of development control applications is not negligible and is of particular importance where applications have been received for new homes, eg Nethy Bridge. 

2.    The fact that the Park Authority will not have the lead role in implementing planning policy is the most serious flaw in the Designation Order. Under current planning law, all development control decisions are taken in accordance with the statutory document in place, i.e. the Structure Plan. Otherwise: 

·       Planning decisions will be made that are not compliant with National Park objectives.

·       The current mosaic of separate structure and local plans will render a Park-wide Local Plan, or Plans, ineffective, since this would legally have to be driven by existing Structure Plans 

·       This table shows how long it would be until the proper procedures are in place:     

 3.    The myth that the National Park Authority would get bogged down with insignificant planning applications should be dispelled immediately, since it is the case that:        

       A simple reversal of the proposals could achieve an efficient mechanism for determining planning applications not significantly affecting the National Park: that is, that the NPA, with full planning powers, is furnished with the ability to delegate certain amounts of casework to Local Authority planning officers for determination.           

·            This determination would be driven by strategic plans (i.e. Park Plan) 

4.    Finally, experience from English and Welsh National Parks has shown that shared planning powers do not work. The 1995 Environment Act ensured that all National Parks in England and Wales have full planning powers. Furthermore, the Executive was prepared to implement this best practice for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. There is no supportable reason why the Cairngorms should be treated any different.

       In order to furnish the National Park Authority with the ability to implement all the aims for Scottish National Parks as set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, it is imperative that MSPs ensure that the Executive confer full planning powers on the Cairngorms National Park Authority. 

North East Mountain Trust, Aberdeen    10^th DECEMBER, 2002

www.nemt.org.uk

NORTH EAST MOUNTAIN TRUST –CNP BOUNDARY ISSUES – Motion Paper Two 

 THE FACTS: 

 PARK BOUNDARY. The Designation Order excludes much land recommended by SNH for inclusion. This directly affects Council representation on the National Park Board.

·         SNH area - 4580 sq km. Draft Order - 2460 sq km.

Revised Order – 3,800 sq km, incl. 70 in Laggan outside SNH area, area cut by 19%.

Main exclusions - 700 sq km N. Perthshire (SNH report), 90 in Moray and 50 in Angus.

·         Executive’s draft Order and revised Order gave no rational grounds for exclusions.

·         SNH scored each area for the three qualifying criteria of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 – (1) outstanding national importance of its natural and cultural heritage, (2) distinctive character and coherent identity and (3) meeting the special needs of the area in a co-ordinated way.  An area’s maximum possible score was 15. NEMT used SNH scores for 16 areas later excluded in the draft Order.  For 4 areas now included in the revised Order, SNH had scored 8, 9, 10 and 12 (average 9.7).  For 9 areas now partly included, SNH had scored 5, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10 and 11 (average 8.4).  For Perthshire areas that are still excluded, SNH had scored 9, 11 and 11 (average 10.3).   So, SNH’s earlier scores for areas that are now excluded in the revised Order exceeded scores for areas now included or partly included.

·         Council representation on National Park Authority:

Summary of landscape, wildlife and recreation value of excluded areas

·         NORTH PERTHSHIRE:  Holds a vast tract of glens, moorland, high peat-land and arctic-alpine land including some of Scotland’s most remote and road-less hills;  has a large Natura 2000 site at Beinn a’ Ghlo, another at South Drumochter adjoining North Drumochter in Inverness-shire, one at Caenlochan shared by Angus and Aberdeenshire, Sites of Special Scientific Interest at The Cairnwell (where the boundary cuts through a site shared with Aberdeenshire), Glas Tulaichean, Glen Tilt, Glen Fender, Glen Garry, and Loch Moraig, and Designed Landscapes at Blair Castle and Falls of Bruar.

·         GLEN ESK, ANGUS:  SNH’s boundary was the Firmounth road and Tarfside, with over 30 households included, some of the glen’s best birch woods and peat-lands, hill farms with abundant waders, and moorland that has been the subject of much ecological research. The Order’s east boundary is at Auchronie by Invermark, with only five households in the park and the best birch woods excluded.

·         MORAY EXCLUSION NEAR ADVIE:  SNH stated that the boundary here required further consideration and the area did not qualify on natural heritage grounds alone, but this omitted that the Act specified three criteria (3^rd bullet, above), and natural heritage was only a part of the first criterion (which it shared with cultural heritage). The area has big birch woods including Lower Strathavon Woodlands SSSI, the lowest part of Avon, and miles of Spey (a designated European site).

North East Mountain Trust, Aberdeen    10^th DECEMBER, 2002

www.nemt.org.uk

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