Meeting of the Parliament 26 January 2016
I welcome the opportunity to speak today as a member of the Pentland Hills Regional Park Boundary Bill Committee.
I am sure that everyone here today shares Christine Grahame’s passion for protecting the landscape of the Pentland hills for future generations. I confirm, as a member, that the committee also held that view.
I thank Christine Grahame for her efforts in producing the bill. I know as someone who has two bills under my belt—one successful and one not so successful—how much work is involved in bill preparation.
No one can fault Christine Grahame for her absolute passion and energy in getting the bill on the table. That involves the consultation side as well, and I echo the convener’s point about the support of the NGBU, which does a fantastic job in the Parliament.
As we have heard, however, there were a number of issues on which we did not share Christine Grahame’s views. There were questions about whether there is demand from local communities and local councils, and about what extra protection would be provided, which the convener already covered. I say, in trying to be as positive as I can, that if in the future there were to be a bill in which funding opportunities were made much clearer, governance issues were resolved and it was clear that there was widespread community, local authority and Scottish Government support, my personal view—I stress that it is my personal view—is that I would not rule it out, if those boxes were ticked.
The minister has been clear that there is no Scottish Government support for the proposal and the councils that gave evidence to the committee did not provide any positive evidence that the bill should go ahead. For those reasons, Labour members will not support the bill.
I praise, however, the work that Christine Grahame has carried out.
14:32