SNH’s Report to Government on the Ministerial Proposal for a National park in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

The formal Ministerial Proposal to create a National Park in the area of the Cairngorms was made on 19 September 2000. A Requirement under section 3(1) of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 was published on the same day requested that SNH consult on this proposal and then report back to the Scottish Parliament.

SNH was required to consult on the following matters:

• the case for the park;
• the area of the Park;
• the functions of the Park Authority;
• the membership of the Park of Authority;
• the name of the National Park and other issues considered important by consultees;
• the costs and capital expenses of the Authority .

Following a period of consultation between (6 November 2000) and (9th February 2001), and under Section 3 of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, SNH presented a set of reports on the proposal for a National Park in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.

Report 1: SNH’s REPORT ON THE PROPOSAL FOR A LOCH LOMOND AND TROSSACHS NATIONAL PARK

This report contains the conclusions of the Reporter on the key issues for consideration by Ministers. Additionally it sets out SNH's own views as statutory advisor on natural heritage Issues. This report was submitted to Scottish Ministers on 19 March 2001.

There are two maps associated with this report, although it should be noted that the detail here is not as great as that on the printed versions of the report:

Report 2: Description of the consultation process and stakeholder analysis

This report outlines the different elements of the consultation programme. It also contains a detailed analysis of all written responses to the consultation and summarises some of the key findings from public events and focus group discussions. There are 6 parts to this report : (all in format)

Report 3: Finding's from the consultation's public events

This report provides a full account of the comments put forward at all of the
public events and target/focus group discussions

Report 4: Evaluation of the consultation programme

This contains an evaluation of the consultation exercise undertaken Alex Downieof Research & Training Consultancy Services on beghalf of SNH. It is presented in three sections:

• Section 1 covers the background to the consultation programme and describes the evaluation framework;
• Section 2 is the evaluation itself; and
• Section 3 provides an overview and conclusions, and puts forward some lessons to be learned.

We have now distributed copies of Report 1 to individuals and organisations who were involved in the consultation exercise. If you have not received a copy and would like to request one or if you would like further copies, please send your name and address to Scottish Natural Heritage, The Beta Centre, Innovation Park, University of Stirling, FK9 4NF). It is not out intention to send copies of the other reports to all who were involved in the consultation exercise but if you would like to be sent a copy please contact us at the same address.

Copies of all of the responses we received and the reports prepared during the consultation exercise are available for public inspection. Copies are available for viewing at SNH’s Stirling Office (The Beta Centre, Innovation Park, University of Stirling, FK9 4NF).

If you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss any aspect of our advice or you have other queries about our work on the proposed National Park please contact: Roddy.Fairley@snh.gov.uk or ivan.clark@snh.gov.uk on 01786 450362.