Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 07 June 2022
There is absolutely no doubt that Fergus Ewing has raised an important point about the lack of housing in many of our rural communities. That is why I have constantly urged the Government to look again at its current target of around 10 per cent of new housing being for rural areas. If we are going to regenerate our rural communities, we need to raise our ambition when it comes to developing new housing in those areas.
I pay tribute to the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland and the Scottish Campaign for National Parks, which have led the 12-year-long campaign for more national parks, and to the community-led campaigns by the Galloway National Park Association, the campaign for a Scottish Borders national park, and campaigns elsewhere. Time after time, I have taken part in debates in the chamber in which SNP ministers have said no to new national parks, but those groups have refused to take no for an answer. They have redoubled their efforts and kept fighting, and the only reason why we are in a position in which any new national parks could be created in the next few years is the perseverance of those groups and community-led proposals for Galloway and Borders national parks.
New national parks are not a panacea, but they offer a rare chance to make a difference and at long last build on the achievements of the previous Labour-led Government. I am therefore pleased to move my amendment, and I hope that Parliament will unite today by committing to completing the unfinished business of Scotland’s national parks.
I move amendment S6M-04799.2, to insert at end:
“; notes that there are over 3,500 national parks across the world; regrets that there have been just two national parks created in Scotland, the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, in 2002, and the Cairngorms National Park, in 2003, since the Parliament passed the National Parks (Scotland) Act in 2000; praises the work of the Scottish Campaign for National Parks, which identified at least seven further potential sites in 2013, as well as community groups in Galloway and the Borders, and elsewhere, which continue to demonstrate clear demand for new national parks; recognises that, in addition to the designation of new national parks, it is vital that the national scenic areas and regional parks are reinvigorated to help tackle the climate, nature and biodiversity emergencies, and believes that the Scottish Government must pave the way for the opening of a number of new national parks across Scotland.”
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