LESSONS must be learned by the Scottish Government on the ‘deeply flawed’ National Park consultation.
That’s the view of South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth, who believes both supporters and opponents of the proposal were united in their view that the process used was fundamentally broken and undermined trust in how major decisions are made.
As the Scottish Parliament debates the Natural Environment Bill, which includes provisions relating to National Parks, he has called for urgent reforms to ensure that should there ever be a future proposal anywhere in Scotland, the process must be built on clarity, transparency and trust.
Mr Smyth said: “Regardless of whether people supported or opposed the idea of a National Park in Galloway, there’s one thing just about everyone agrees on — the process from the Scottish Government and NatureScot was deeply flawed.
“People were asked to give a pretty definitive for or against view without knowing what they were actually being asked to support or oppose because there was no firm proposal on the table but a range of options.”
He went on to describe the process as “consultation in the dark,” with a lack of detail on key issues such as the park’s boundaries, powers or governance model.
The MSP added: “I spoke to people who said they might have supported a park if didn’t include planning powers for example, or if certain boundaries were used. But their views were treated as outright opposition to any kind of way forward at all.”
Colin Smyth is now considering lodging amendments to the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 to prevent a repeat of the Galloway experience in the future. These include pre-proposal guidance; firm
proposals at the start, and independent scrutiny.
He added: “Let’s be honest — the way the Scottish Government and NatureScot handled the last proposal has probably put off any future National Park plans for years.
“But it’s still important that we take this opportunity, as we consider the Natural Environment Bill, to fix the process should it ever be needed.”
