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The consultation period for the proposal for a new National Park in Galloway closed on Friday 14 February and many will be asking: What happens now?
Stewart Wyllie, Regional Chair of NFU Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway writes:
NFU Scotland has approached this contentious issue thoroughly and professionally. Over the 14 weeks that the consultation was open, NFU Scotland met with NatureScot, the reporter to the Government, several times to reiterate our concerns about the proposal.
We repeatedly emphasised that a new National Park in Galloway would not bring any clear benefits for farmers, food producers or the rural economy.
As well as this, we met with a number of other stakeholders in the region including South of Scotland Enterprise, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Scottish Renewables and Scottish Land & Estates as well as many MPs and MSPs. We also wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon MSP, outlining our concerns about both the proposals and the process.
Our Regional Manager for Dumfries & Galloway, Mhairi Dawson, also gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee on why National Parks are a bad idea for Scotland generally, and especially for Galloway.
Over the course of the consultation period, I received a number of appeals from members – letters, phone calls and in person meetings – setting out how worrying and threatening the proposed Park was to their businesses and their way of life.
It is undoubtable that these past few months have been really worrying for members in the region, and I can guarantee you that I and NFUS staff have been working hard to make clear our opposition to these proposals and that culminated in our final submission to NatureScot.
Now the consultation period has ended, many will be wondering what happens now and what the next steps are in this process. NatureScot has now entered its advice preparation stage where it will analyse all the responses it received to the consultation and prepare a report which sets this out. The report will, crucially, include advice for how NatureScot believes this process should proceed. This report will be issued to Scottish Government Ministers by the end of April 2025. The report will also include a broad-scale map of the proposed area.
Ahead of the report being signed off, the NatureScot Board will be visiting Galloway to meet with stakeholders and hear perspectives outlined in the consultation. The purpose of the visit is for the Board to see the area first-hand and hear directly from some of the key stakeholders they have been working with as the Reporter. Once the report has been submitted to Ministers and published, all respondents who have given permission will also have their response be made public.
There are a number of options and timelines that Scottish Ministers could adopt at this stage of the process. They could aim to proceed with designation as quickly as possible. On the other hand, they may proceed to designate but take their time over this. They may decide not to proceed with the designation process but agree to do more inquiries and consultation. There are some other options the Scottish Government could undertake, including what is known as a Public Local Inquiry, but this is an expensive option. There is also an option for a local referendum, however, this option has been vetoed by the Scottish Government so far.
If the Scottish Government decides to proceed with the designation process, this is another stage of consultation, on the more detailed contents of a Draft Designation Order, including a detailed boundary.
The final stage of the process is the consideration of the Designation Order by the Scottish Parliament, and this will include the chance for the public to provide views to constituency MSPs. The Scottish Parliament would then scrutinise the draft legislation before deciding whether to approve or reject it.
No matter what option the Scottish Government chooses, there is still a long way to go in this process.
I can reassure members that, regardless of the outcome of the advice from NatureScot, NFUS will continue to oppose the creation of a new National Park in Galloway and will set out our proposed alternatives for working with others in the region to achieve the vision for agriculture which includes food production, climate mitigation, biodiversity and rural communities.