Agenda item

Presentation by Mr Malcolm Dickson

5.1       There had been circulated copies of a slide deck from the Campaign for a Scottish Borders National Park.  The Chair welcomed Malcolm Dickson to the meeting to present on the Campaign for a Scottish Borders National Park.  The campaign had been running for approximately 7 years, instigated by a supporters that felt that having a national park could regenerate the economy of the Scottish Borders.  In 2000, the National Parks (Scotland) Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament and two national parks had been created since; the Cairngorms National Park, and the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.  The campaign believed that the natural beauty and cultural heritage of the Borders lent itself to having a national park designated to the area.  The campaign identified that the Scottish Borders was within 90 minutes’ drive for approximately 5.5 million people in Scotland and the North of England.  Further reasons given for support of the campaign included that the Borders had a struggling economy and an aging population and that national parks encouraged young professional and working families to live or visit.  The campaign identified falling reducing tourism trends.  Mr Dickson advised that as national parks crossed multiple local authority areas, this may arise concerns over planning.  However, a Borders national park would be contained within the Scottish Borders Council boundary and would allow for straightforward planning considerations.  The campaign had sought to address concerns around pressure on services, responsible tourists and house prices.  Mr Dickson further advised that farmers within national park boundaries received more subsidies per acre than those outside a national park.  Mr Dickson explained that it was an important step for the campaign to receive political endorsement from Scottish Borders Council and advised that the Campaign for a Scottish Borders National Park may be seen to have a weaker case without support of the Council.  Mr Dickson advised that the process of developing a report for advancing the endorsement of a Borders national park may be too slow and consideration should be given to speeding the process up.

5.2       Attendees discussed the presentation and Mr Dickson answered questions on the campaign.  Mr Dickson advised that windfarms that already existed before national park designation wouldn’t impact the application however future windfarm applications may be affected within a national park area.  It was expected that the procedure of designation of a new national park would continue in light of the change of First Minister.  Governance of national park authorities were outlined in the 2000 National Parks (Scotland) Act.  More than half of the park authority would be local people with other members drawn from Scottish Government experts.  Scottish Borders Council elected members would be amongst the local members of the governing body.  Most national park funding was drawn from an annual funding grant from the Scottish Government, and other funding would be received from park fundraising such as endowments.  Mr Dickson advised that he could circulate further information about elections to the park authority through SBC officers.  It was raised that there should be assurances that a national park authority’s elections and business should be as transparent as possible.

DECISION

NOTED the update.