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The more national parks Scotland has, the better off we will be
@bobjmsn why? Serious question.
@CloudyMrs Read the article and you'll find out.
@bobjmsn
@CloudyMrs @LaChasseuse Edited and put up a new link.
@bobjmsn @LaChasseuse I appreciate your efforts but I can't open that one either.
I worry a bit about new park authorities being created. I know and have dealt with Cairngorms a bit. It isn't a totally positive picture.
@CloudyMrs @bobjmsn Here's the article on the internet archive, without the paywall: https://web.archive.org/web/20240223085438/https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24138718.national-parks-scotland-better-off-will/
@LaChasseuse @CloudyMrs Thank you!
@bobjmsn @LaChasseuse so having read the article, my question still stands. Why are more national parks a good thing? That article is a collection of positive statements without any actual data to back it up. It doesn't mention any of the problems that are clearly documented, which rings alarm bells for me about how useful the article is. I like the idea of National Parks, but I also think a critical eye is important if more are to be rolled out.
@CloudyMrs @bobjmsn @LaChasseuse I think the main benefit is in planning. There is a presumption in favour of development, but in a national park, this is mitigated in a way that planning law alone cannot do.
Properly constituted, it can protect local activities like fishing whilst prohibiting it for visitors and large boats, as is the case in La Maddalena national park in Italy.
National Park status can also give an income stream which is not available to the council for local improvements.
@peterbrown @bobjmsn @LaChasseuse "properly" is the important word there. Who is currently deciding what is proper. Scotland has a quango hangover that seems baked into everything. The balance between the weight given to opinion from outside agencies vs local people doesn't seem quite right. Yes funding comes in, but how it's spent sometimes feels a bit random.
@CloudyMrs @bobjmsn @LaChasseuse Certainly it is a type of quango.
I believe there is a material difference between the organisation of the Cairngorm park and Loch Lomond, in terms of local involvement.
I think the reason that Isle of Harris were not allowed to proceed with the National Park was that the council did not want to give up powers to the national park.
It’s all about being in there at the beginning and making sure there is enough local representation, not the usual suspects.
@peterbrown @bobjmsn @LaChasseuse how can folk who don't have any power or knowledge about the process of things, ever hope to get in at the start? By the time most ordinary folk hear about a thing, decisions have been made and deals already done.
@CloudyMrs @bobjmsn @LaChasseuse community councils, local voluntary organisations, neighbourhood groups, and basically any kind of local organisation should flag up to, for example, the green party to keep themselves in the loop and get involved in their organisation.