National Park Authorities to be sole or principal management authority in designated area

If one or more new national parks are to be established, consideration should be given to the resulting national park authorities being made the sole - or at least the principal - management authority over the designated area.

This should, at minimum, include being a planning authority (as is the case with the existing national parks, either a full planning authority or a 'call in' authority') and the responsibilities of other national agencies/bodies (such as NatureScot and SEPA) operating in the designated area could also be passed to the national park authority.

This could help with budgets, with some of the other bodies' budget helping to fund the national park authority, and it would reduce the extent of overlap between bodies/agencies operating in the designated national park area.

It might be more challenging to transfer the responsibilities of national bodies such as Scottish Forestry, as it has legal obligations that only it can discharge, and Forestry and Land Scotland, again as it has responsibilities to manage Ministers' forest estate.





Why the contribution is important

It is important to consider the range of responsibilities that could be given to a national park authority - including the two established national parks authorities - including those of national bodies/agencies operating within the designated national park areas. This has the potential to help with funding and to reduce overlaps.

by camusfearna on June 06, 2022 at 01:47PM

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  • Posted by adm June 06, 2022 at 16:59

    I don't agree that our National Parks should be completely self-contained in this way, because of the loss of opportunity to share costs and follow a joined-up approach across Scotland. But I agree that there should be formal structures between the Parks and any public bodies operating within the boundary, with a duty to follow a shared approach.
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