Brief History of National Parks Proposals
1931 - The Addison Committee propose the Cairngorms area for National Park status.
1945-7 - Government Committees, chaired by Sir Douglas Ramsay, reviewed National Parks for Scotland and five prospective Park areas: Loch Lomond & the Trossachs, the Cairngorms, Glen Coe-Ben Nevis-Black Mount, Wester Ross and Glen Strathfarrar-Glen Affric-Glen Cannich.
1951 - The 1949 legislation, which allowed for the establishment of National Parks in England and Wales, did not extend to Scotland but Government designated the five 'Ramsay' areas as National Park Direction Areas, which allowed for some extra scrutiny of development proposals within them.
1953 - Cairngorms National Nature Reserve declared.
1958 - Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve declared.
1975 - The former Countryside Commission for Scotland (CCS) identified Loch Lomond & The Trossachs, the Cairngorms and Glen Coe-Ben Nevis as areas needing special management to care for their national importance.
1981 - The National Park Direction Area designation was replaced, in part, by the new National Scenic Area designation. Of the 40 NSAs identified by CCS, two separate NSAs were identified for parts of Loch Lomond & the Trossachs and the Cairngorms had two adjacent NSAs – one covering the main Cairngorms massif, the other for upper Deeside and Lochnagar.
1988 - Legislation passed in 1981 to create Regional Parks was used to establish a joint local authority-led Loch Lomond Park Authority - but excluding at this stage the Trossachs.
1991 - The former Countryside Commission for Scotland, in reviewing Scotland's mountain areas, recommended National Park status for four areas: Loch Lomond & the Trossachs, the Cairngorms, Glen Coe-Ben Nevis-Black Mount and Wester Ross.
1991 - In response to the CCS report, Government established working parties for Loch Lomond & the Trossachs (chaired by Sir Peter Hutchinson) and the Cairngorms (chaired by Magnus Magnusson) to undertake a detailed review of the needs of the two areas.
1992 - The report of the Cairngorms Working Party (Common Sense and Sustainability) recommended an approach based on a partnership of key interests and organisations, and this led to the proposal for the Cairngorms Partnership.
1993 - The report of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs working party (The management of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs) recommended an approach based on enhanced joint local authority working, but for a wider area than covered by Loch Lomond Park Authority, including the Trossachs.
1995 - Government responded to both reports. In Loch Lomond & the Trossachs it favoured the joint committee approach recommended by the ‘Hutchinson’ report, and the local authorities then set-up a steering group to consider how matters might be pursued. In the Cairngorms, the Cairngorms Partnership is established.
1997 - The new Government declared its intention to legislate for National Parks in Scotland and that Loch Lomond & the Trossachs and the Cairngorms should be Scotland's first Parks. SNH was invited to make proposals for a general model of National Park appropriate to Scotland's needs, as a basis for legislation by the new Scottish Parliament.
1998 - The local authorities of Stirling, West Dunbartonshire and Argyll created the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs Interim Committee, as a basis for working towards a National Park for the area.
1999 - Government accepted the general National Parks proposals, developed by SNH after wide-ranging consultation, as the basis for legislation by the new Scottish Parliament and the matter became part of the new Parliament's first legislative programme.
2000 - Following debate in Parliament, the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 passed into law in August, and soon thereafter Government invited SNH to act as reporter to its proposal to create National Parks for Loch Lomond & The Trossachs and the Cairngorms.
2002 - Lomond & The Trossachs National Park established.
2003 - Cairngorms National Park established.
