The Scottish Government

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Introduction

In 2004 Ministers agreed to consult on the first two elements of the Scottish Executive's Partnership Agreement commitment to:

"Consult on the best strategy for protecting and enhancing all of Scotland's coastline, building on existing policies and including the options of establishing a national coastline park and marine national parks, and consideration of current management and rental arrangements for the sea-bed."

This was done as part of the Executive's consultation on developing a strategic framework for Scotland's marine environment that could:

• Bring greater coherence to the range of marine-related initiatives across the Executive;
• Establish a clear vision for the sustainable management of our coasts and seas;
• Identify any gaps in current activity, and ways to plug them;
• Ensure more effective governance of the marine and coastal environment.

Taking into account the responses to this consultation, the Minister for Environment and Rural Development announced on 15 June 2005 the Executive's intention to proceed towards the establishment of Scotland's first Coastal and Marine National Park. This coincided with an announcement on Scotland's Marine and Coastal Strategy.

In order to set out a coherent framework in advance of public consultation, Scottish Natural Heritage ( SNH) was asked to provide advice to Scottish Ministers on Coastal and Marine National Parks and specifically on:

• the added value and benefits of a Coastal and Marine National Park;
• the statutory and policy framework for a Coastal and Marine National Park, including its aims, powers, governance and likely running costs;
• one or more possible areas which Ministers should consider as leading candidates for designation as a Coastal and Marine National Park.

SNH's advice was submitted to Ministers at the end of March 2006. SNH carried out a series of assessments to evaluate areas which might be considered as candidates for designation as a Coastal and Marine National Park.

SNH's advice is an important contribution to the process leading to the development and consideration of specific proposals. This Scottish Executive consultation forms the next step in that process by seeking views on Scottish Ministers' proposals for Scotland's first Coastal and Marine National Park.

Following this consultation and assessment of the responses received there are statutory procedures which would need to be followed if Ministers decided to proceed with a specific proposal for designating a Coastal and Marine National Park. The Scottish Executive publication, Seas the Opportunity: A Strategy for the long-term sustainability of Scotland's coasts and seas, outlined a timetable for establishing a Coastal and Marine National Park during 2008 and the next steps section of this paper contains further information.

How to respond and deadline for responses

We are inviting responses to this consultation by 10 January 2007. To help our considerations please indicate in your response:

• Your name
• Your interest
• The organisation that you represent (if applicable)
• Your contact details

Email to: CMNPConsultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Post to:

If you require further hard copies of this paper, please contact us at the above address. You can download the consultation document from the Scottish Executive website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/CMNPConsultation

An electronic copy of the report that was recently produced by Scottish Natural Heritage and associated information can be viewed at:
http://www.snh.gov.uk/strategy/CMNP/sr-adnp01.asp

An electronic copy of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 can be viewed at:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2000/20000010.htm

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form within the electronic consultation document on the Scottish Executive website as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Executive are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public (see the Respondent Information Form), these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library and on the Scottish Executive consultation web pages in February 2007. We will check all responses where agreement to publish has been given for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SE Library on 0131 244 4552. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

What happens next?

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered. We aim to issue a report on this consultation process in February 2007.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to:

e-mail: nikki.milne@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

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