This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Cairngorms National Park takes shape
14/11/2002
Orders lodged in Parliament today extend the original
proposed boundaries of the Cairngorms National Park by more
than 50 per cent.
Cairngorms, with planning powers shared between the Park
Authority and relevant local authorities, would be the
largest National Park in the UK and among the largest in
Europe.
Deputy Environment Minister Allan Wilson said:
"I am delighted to be putting before Parliament the
Designation Order to establish one of Europe's largest
National Parks. Today's announcement, identifying the area
to be designated within Cairngorms National Park is a vital
step in meeting our pledge to establish two national parks
by 2003.
"The Orders which we have now lodged for Parliament's
approval follow a lengthy consultation process which
identified a wide range of views. We have listened
carefully to those views and have taken on board many of
the comments submitted. This is particularly so in the case
of the Park boundary where we now propose a significant
addition to the area we had earlier suggested.
"The Park Authority will be charged with preparing a
local plan, in consultation with local authorities and
local communities, to provide a context within which
individual planning applications will be determined.
"To allow the Authority to concentrate on this work, and
on its other core responsibilities such as land management,
day to day handling of planning applications will remain
with local authorities. However, to minimise any risk that
the national importance of the Park is prejudiced by local
considerations, the Park Authority will be able to call-in,
for its own determination, planning applications that are
of general significance to the National Park aims.
The two Orders lodged today are the Cairngorms National
Park Designation, Transitional and Consequential Provisions
(Scotland) Order 2002 and the Cairngorms National Park
Elections (Scotland) Order 2002. Both require the
Parliament's approval before they can come into effect.
The first Order sets out the boundaries of the park.
Ministers noted the significant volume of comment
suggesting that their boundary proposals were too limited
and that they also divided certain communities.
Ministers have revised the proposed boundary to remove
anomalies and also to include a more substantial area. It
is now proposed that the Park Authority will extend to some
3,800sqkm an increase of more than 50 per cent.
The Park will now stretch from the Grantown on Spey area
to the heads of the Angus Glens; from Ballater to
Dalwhinnie and Drumochter; and will include much of the
Laggan area in the south west and a large area of the Glen
Livet estate and the Strathdon/Glen Buchat area.
The allocation of the planning function is largely as
proposed earlier. Adjustments have been made, however, to
the call-in timetable.
There will be 25 members of the National Park Authority
(NPA). Five members will be directly elected. There will be
ten local authority nominees and a further ten appointed by
Scottish Ministers. The proposed split of the en local
authority nominees is Highland 5; Aberdeenshire 3; Moray 1;
and Angus 1.