Chamber
Plenary, 13 Mar 2008
13 Mar 2008 · S3 · Plenary
Item of business
National Parks
I agree with Sarah Boyack that the debate has been good. I might take issue with Nigel Don, who I think confused the High Street of Braemar with the Highland wildlife park at Kincraig, but I know where he was coming from.
Out of self-interest, I will refer to upper Speyside. Residents of that area, which is in my constituency of Moray, might not feel lucky this week, after the United Kingdom Government's smash and grab on the local whisky sector, but my constituents there feel lucky to live in the midst of the spectacular landscape of Cairngorms national park. Last year, I went along to speak to the children of Glenlivet primary school. When I arrived at the school, which is adjacent to the cairn that marks the gateway to Cairngorms national park, I thought how lucky they are to go to school in such a spectacular location, surrounded by a rich cultural and natural heritage.
As Rhoda Grant was, I was proud to be involved in the first debates on national parks back in 2000. Many members will feel their age today—that was eight years ago, and it is now five years since the parks got up and running. The creation of the national parks had cross-party support back then and we are delighted that such cross-party support for the review has been expressed today.
In the previous parliamentary session, I was a member of the Environment and Rural Development Committee, which considered in 2007 John Swinney's member's bill to extend Cairngorms national park's southern boundary. Having heard the powerful case that was presented by John Swinney and—most of all—by communities, whose views the committee heard at first hand when it visited Blair Atholl, I know that the communities concerned will warmly welcome the Government's announcement that the park's southern boundary will be extended to include highland and eastern Perthshire. I say to John Swinney, "Your Government was listening to you." I pay tribute to all the campaigners and to Murdo Fraser, who mentioned his role in the campaign, although I was concerned that it has taken him several years to begin to warm to Michael Russell. Many of us warmed to him many years ago.
As many members have said, Scotland's national parks use a distinctive model with four aims that combine conservation of natural and cultural heritage with the sustainable use, enjoyment and development of an area's communities. National parks seek to conserve and enhance the qualities that make such places special, and offer significant benefits to the people of the whole of Scotland. Our national parks are helping to develop solutions for rural Scotland that improve people's lives.
The people, places and special qualities of the national parks are strongly connected and interdependent. The landscapes, habitats and species that give the areas their special character are actively shaped by land management and the communities that live there. Both national parks have successfully developed with their partners the first Scottish national park plans, which will ensure that the public sector organisations that are involved in managing the areas are joined up and working towards a shared vision. To see the number of organisations that are involved, we have simply to look at the number of logos on the first page of the "Cairngorms National Park Plan 2007". It is great that all those organisations are working together.
As Jamie Hepburn said and Sarah Boyack reiterated, John Muir—that great Scot—is looking down on us from above and will be proud of the Scottish Parliament's actions. As Jamie Hepburn and Sarah Boyack also said, if there were no Scottish Parliament, there would be no national parks in Scotland.
Our national parks are important not only because of their iconic landscapes and outstanding environments, but because of their cultural heritage and qualities. Those reasons combine to give the national parks their distinctive identities. Scotland's national parks are not only places that are visited by millions of people each year: they are also living and working landscapes.
Many members talked about the potential for more tourism and John Scott talked about the greater potential for eco-tourism. The national parks are huge assets that have helped to put Scotland on the international stage. Our parks put the best of Scotland on show and contribute to increasing tourism revenue through sustainable means, while helping to look after nationally and internationally important species and habitats.
Cairngorms national park was the first national park in the UK to be accredited with the European charter for sustainable tourism and 50 businesses in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park have achieved green tourism business scheme accreditation. As many members highlighted, many innovative approaches to rural development are being taken in our national parks, which provide the opportunity to develop and test out innovative solutions to rural issues.
As Jamie McGrigor highlighted, in Cairngorms national park, for example, the land-based business training project, which has had wide acclaim, helps organise and fund many training courses for land-based businesses. In four years, more than 2,000 people from more than 200 businesses have been trained in a wide range of skills.
As many members highlighted, excellent examples of bottom-up rural development exist in our national parks. Parliament acknowledges that the parks are playing that crucial role. In Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park, the successful communities future programme has led to more than 18 communities forming their own community development trusts, through which local issues are being tackled to bring improvements to the people who live in those communities. A book has been published that sets out a step-by-step guide, so that communities throughout Scotland can learn from the excellent bottom-up approach that has been adopted in both national parks.
Rob Gibson and a number of other members highlighted the point that rural housing is central to rural development in our national parks. It is important that we encourage our national parks to seek out innovative solutions to address the affordable housing crisis in rural Scotland, rather than criticise them for doing so. That is vital—their efforts run parallel to many of the initiatives that the Scottish Government is progressing to address the rural housing crisis.
Michael Russell said in his opening speech—his remarks have been echoed by many members from all parties—that the enhancement and protection of local democracy is a paramount consideration of the forthcoming review. That will be the review's top priority. We all recognise that we have to protect local democracy and that, as Sarah Boyack highlighted, there has to be local buy-in for the work that is undertaken by national parks.
Scotland's national parks are parks for all. They allow people from all over Scotland and further afield, and from all walks of life, to enjoy, learn and benefit from special areas. Over five years, 4,200 people have gained a John Muir award while getting active and learning more about the nature and wildness of the Cairngorms national park.
Since their establishment in 2002 and 2003, both national parks have achieved a great deal, but there is more to be achieved. Even today, as Sarah Boyack said, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority won an award in the Scottish awards for quality planning for its work with the developer of the Carrick golf resort. That is another sign of excellence and I know that the whole Parliament will want to congratulate the authority on winning that award this morning.
The national park authorities have worked very hard since their establishment. They have led and enabled the action and partnerships that have been necessary to achieve the four statutory aims of the national parks. The authorities' role has been to facilitate and co-ordinate management of the national parks. However, as we all know, things do not stand still and reviewing after a reasonable time how things are working and identifying where improvements can be made is the natural course to take. We welcome the unanimous support for having the review now. As the Minister for Environment explained, now is the time to carry out the review of Scotland's national park authorities. Many of the specific issues that have been raised today will be taken into account by the review.
I can only reiterate what Michael Russell said about the Lib Dem amendment: we cannot today pre-empt the review before it has even begun. It is illogical for many members of certain parties to say in Parliament today that they welcome the review, but then to give lots of reasons why there should not be change. That is why we will not support the Lib Dem amendment.
I will highlight how, as many members have said, the national parks are contributing to Parliament's and the Government's green objectives in respect of microrenewables, sustainable housing and local food produce. Many innovative measures are being adopted by our national parks to help Scotland achieve our greener Scotland objective and to ensure that we live in a greener nation. Of course, the national parks are ideally placed to play that role, particularly in relation to protecting biodiversity and our magnificent landscape. However, we must not forget the people who live there. This issue is about landscapes and the environment, but it is also about living, working communities. That must be at the heart of our future strategy for our national parks in Scotland.
In conclusion, we all agree that Scotland's national parks have been a big success, but we all agree that there is now a case for a review. We cannot be complacent: we have to look to the future, which is what the review is all about. I urge Parliament to support the Government's motion.
Out of self-interest, I will refer to upper Speyside. Residents of that area, which is in my constituency of Moray, might not feel lucky this week, after the United Kingdom Government's smash and grab on the local whisky sector, but my constituents there feel lucky to live in the midst of the spectacular landscape of Cairngorms national park. Last year, I went along to speak to the children of Glenlivet primary school. When I arrived at the school, which is adjacent to the cairn that marks the gateway to Cairngorms national park, I thought how lucky they are to go to school in such a spectacular location, surrounded by a rich cultural and natural heritage.
As Rhoda Grant was, I was proud to be involved in the first debates on national parks back in 2000. Many members will feel their age today—that was eight years ago, and it is now five years since the parks got up and running. The creation of the national parks had cross-party support back then and we are delighted that such cross-party support for the review has been expressed today.
In the previous parliamentary session, I was a member of the Environment and Rural Development Committee, which considered in 2007 John Swinney's member's bill to extend Cairngorms national park's southern boundary. Having heard the powerful case that was presented by John Swinney and—most of all—by communities, whose views the committee heard at first hand when it visited Blair Atholl, I know that the communities concerned will warmly welcome the Government's announcement that the park's southern boundary will be extended to include highland and eastern Perthshire. I say to John Swinney, "Your Government was listening to you." I pay tribute to all the campaigners and to Murdo Fraser, who mentioned his role in the campaign, although I was concerned that it has taken him several years to begin to warm to Michael Russell. Many of us warmed to him many years ago.
As many members have said, Scotland's national parks use a distinctive model with four aims that combine conservation of natural and cultural heritage with the sustainable use, enjoyment and development of an area's communities. National parks seek to conserve and enhance the qualities that make such places special, and offer significant benefits to the people of the whole of Scotland. Our national parks are helping to develop solutions for rural Scotland that improve people's lives.
The people, places and special qualities of the national parks are strongly connected and interdependent. The landscapes, habitats and species that give the areas their special character are actively shaped by land management and the communities that live there. Both national parks have successfully developed with their partners the first Scottish national park plans, which will ensure that the public sector organisations that are involved in managing the areas are joined up and working towards a shared vision. To see the number of organisations that are involved, we have simply to look at the number of logos on the first page of the "Cairngorms National Park Plan 2007". It is great that all those organisations are working together.
As Jamie Hepburn said and Sarah Boyack reiterated, John Muir—that great Scot—is looking down on us from above and will be proud of the Scottish Parliament's actions. As Jamie Hepburn and Sarah Boyack also said, if there were no Scottish Parliament, there would be no national parks in Scotland.
Our national parks are important not only because of their iconic landscapes and outstanding environments, but because of their cultural heritage and qualities. Those reasons combine to give the national parks their distinctive identities. Scotland's national parks are not only places that are visited by millions of people each year: they are also living and working landscapes.
Many members talked about the potential for more tourism and John Scott talked about the greater potential for eco-tourism. The national parks are huge assets that have helped to put Scotland on the international stage. Our parks put the best of Scotland on show and contribute to increasing tourism revenue through sustainable means, while helping to look after nationally and internationally important species and habitats.
Cairngorms national park was the first national park in the UK to be accredited with the European charter for sustainable tourism and 50 businesses in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park have achieved green tourism business scheme accreditation. As many members highlighted, many innovative approaches to rural development are being taken in our national parks, which provide the opportunity to develop and test out innovative solutions to rural issues.
As Jamie McGrigor highlighted, in Cairngorms national park, for example, the land-based business training project, which has had wide acclaim, helps organise and fund many training courses for land-based businesses. In four years, more than 2,000 people from more than 200 businesses have been trained in a wide range of skills.
As many members highlighted, excellent examples of bottom-up rural development exist in our national parks. Parliament acknowledges that the parks are playing that crucial role. In Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park, the successful communities future programme has led to more than 18 communities forming their own community development trusts, through which local issues are being tackled to bring improvements to the people who live in those communities. A book has been published that sets out a step-by-step guide, so that communities throughout Scotland can learn from the excellent bottom-up approach that has been adopted in both national parks.
Rob Gibson and a number of other members highlighted the point that rural housing is central to rural development in our national parks. It is important that we encourage our national parks to seek out innovative solutions to address the affordable housing crisis in rural Scotland, rather than criticise them for doing so. That is vital—their efforts run parallel to many of the initiatives that the Scottish Government is progressing to address the rural housing crisis.
Michael Russell said in his opening speech—his remarks have been echoed by many members from all parties—that the enhancement and protection of local democracy is a paramount consideration of the forthcoming review. That will be the review's top priority. We all recognise that we have to protect local democracy and that, as Sarah Boyack highlighted, there has to be local buy-in for the work that is undertaken by national parks.
Scotland's national parks are parks for all. They allow people from all over Scotland and further afield, and from all walks of life, to enjoy, learn and benefit from special areas. Over five years, 4,200 people have gained a John Muir award while getting active and learning more about the nature and wildness of the Cairngorms national park.
Since their establishment in 2002 and 2003, both national parks have achieved a great deal, but there is more to be achieved. Even today, as Sarah Boyack said, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority won an award in the Scottish awards for quality planning for its work with the developer of the Carrick golf resort. That is another sign of excellence and I know that the whole Parliament will want to congratulate the authority on winning that award this morning.
The national park authorities have worked very hard since their establishment. They have led and enabled the action and partnerships that have been necessary to achieve the four statutory aims of the national parks. The authorities' role has been to facilitate and co-ordinate management of the national parks. However, as we all know, things do not stand still and reviewing after a reasonable time how things are working and identifying where improvements can be made is the natural course to take. We welcome the unanimous support for having the review now. As the Minister for Environment explained, now is the time to carry out the review of Scotland's national park authorities. Many of the specific issues that have been raised today will be taken into account by the review.
I can only reiterate what Michael Russell said about the Lib Dem amendment: we cannot today pre-empt the review before it has even begun. It is illogical for many members of certain parties to say in Parliament today that they welcome the review, but then to give lots of reasons why there should not be change. That is why we will not support the Lib Dem amendment.
I will highlight how, as many members have said, the national parks are contributing to Parliament's and the Government's green objectives in respect of microrenewables, sustainable housing and local food produce. Many innovative measures are being adopted by our national parks to help Scotland achieve our greener Scotland objective and to ensure that we live in a greener nation. Of course, the national parks are ideally placed to play that role, particularly in relation to protecting biodiversity and our magnificent landscape. However, we must not forget the people who live there. This issue is about landscapes and the environment, but it is also about living, working communities. That must be at the heart of our future strategy for our national parks in Scotland.
In conclusion, we all agree that Scotland's national parks have been a big success, but we all agree that there is now a case for a review. We cannot be complacent: we have to look to the future, which is what the review is all about. I urge Parliament to support the Government's motion.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Alasdair Morgan):
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-1548, in the name of Michael Russell, on national parks.
The Minister for Environment (Michael Russell):
SNP
Today's debate provides me with an opportunity to set out the Government's thinking on the future of our national parks. At the outset, I want to say with en...
Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD):
LD
Did the minister say that he accepted that the two parks should remain separate, or that this is part of a review to put them together? Will he make that clear?
Michael Russell:
SNP
I am unlikely to merge the parks physically—that would require more than I am capable of.
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab):
Lab
Surely not.
Michael Russell:
SNP
Jackie Baillie seems to believe that I could achieve even that, but I think that that is unlikely. On the separation of the parks, given that I have spoken o...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
The minister's announcement on the southern boundary of the Cairngorms national park is most welcome, but I seek clarity on one issue. On what date is it pro...
Michael Russell:
SNP
All members will accept that the process in the legislation for making changes is slightly cumbersome. If SNH appoints a reporter now, I hope that the proces...
David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
Zhou Enlai was the premier of the People's Republic of China until 1976. As members may know, he was famous for his skill as a diplomat, as a participant at ...
Mike Rumbles:
LD
Does the member agree with me—and, indeed, with the minister—that one of the great success stories of the national parks is the directly elected element of l...
David Stewart:
Lab
I strongly agree with that; in fact, I will reach that issue later in my speech.That progress has included the provision of eco-tourism at Loch Lomond and co...
Michael Russell:
SNP
I am sure that the member is aware that I do not write The Scotsman. I am the person who commissioned the report. The member is right to draw attention to th...
David Stewart:
Lab
I thank the minister for his comments. His earlier announcements perhaps preoccupied some members in the chamber. The minister should by all means look at th...
John Scott (Ayr) (Con):
Con
I declare an interest as a farmer, although I farm outwith the national park boundaries—as they stand at the moment. I welcome the debate and the minister's ...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
The important point is surely not the size of the board, but how effective it is and what it delivers. Does the member agree that some of the conclusions tha...
John Scott:
Con
I cannot say whether they are inaccurate, but I respect Professor Kay's report. It has been acknowledged, and I would be the first to acknowledge, that in se...
Mike Rumbles:
LD
Will the member give way?
John Scott:
Con
I want to press on.Tribute should be paid to those who have carried out and seen through that developmental phase. However, the purpose of the review, which ...
Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD):
LD
Scotland's two national parks provide valuable and, more important, unique assets. The previous Executive, and Sarah Boyack in particular, led the way on the...
Michael Russell:
SNP
I am pleased that Jim Hume is quoting Professor Kay, and I will set his mind at rest on the issue of two parks. I may not agree with Professor Kay on everyth...
Jim Hume:
LD
I was actually talking about park authorities. If their roles are reviewed, the autonomy of the two national park authorities should be recognised—that is th...
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP):
SNP
It is a pleasure to talk about the next phase in the development of the national parks. I watched the process from the sidelines during the first parliamenta...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
I was proud to be involved in the original scrutiny of the National Parks (Scotland) Bill and the subsequent setting up of national parks in Loch Lomond and ...
Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
The two national parks play a significant part in my region. They are both young, although they are growing up, and at present they need encouragement rather...
Michael Russell:
SNP
Before the member becomes totally carried away, I will make clear something that I clarified on Saturday when I was consulted about The Scotsman story. The r...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
Excellent; keep saying it.
Michael Russell:
SNP
I would be happy to keep saying it to Jackie Baillie forever.
Jamie McGrigor:
Con
I am delighted to hear the minister reiterate that.Ministers will conduct a formal review of the Scottish national parks later in the year and Professor Kay'...
Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
We probably agree that it is time to review where we are with the national parks. However, I will start with a quotation from some wonderful spin that I foun...
Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD):
LD
I am fortunate enough to have part of the Cairngorms national park in my region. As well as being a world-class area of outstanding natural environment, the ...