Supporters urged to ‘show their love’ for national park plans for Galloway

Supporters of plans to create Scotland’s third national park are being urged to “show their love” for the project ahead of a consultation closing on Valentine’s Day.

With plans to create a new national park in Galloway, locals in the area who have “the most to gain” are particularly being urged to have their say.

The plea came from groups backing the plans, including Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS), ahead of a meeting of Dumfries and Galloway Council on Wednesday February 5.

Members of the No Galloway National Park group plan to stage a peaceful protest as councillors from the area discuss their response to the consultation.

But supporters of national parks argue they can bring many benefits to an area, with the special status helping to create a “sustainable economy”.

With the consultation, being held by NatureScot, due to close in less than two weeks, Kat Jones, director of APRS said it “feels like a special moment for us”.

She stated: “We have been campaigning for a new national park for Scotland for more than a decade.

“With the consultation closing on Valentine’s Day, we are asking people to show their love for a new National Park in Galloway by taking part.

“We are especially encouraging those who live in Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire to get involved, as they have the most to gain from a new national park.”

There are currently two national parks in Scotland, in the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs – with Holyrood ministers announcing last year plans to create a third such area in Galloway.

John Mayhew, chairman of Scottish Campaign for National Parks (SCNP) insisted: “National parks bring so many benefits, not just in recognising a special landscape, with its particular history, communities, and nature, but in the regeneration of communities and in creating a sustainable economy.

“The consultation is a chance for people to have a say on which areas should be included in the new national park, what its powers will be, and to suggest names for the national park, among a host of other things.”

The Galloway National Park Association (GNPA) started its campaign for a national park in the area back in 2017, with chairman Rob Lucas arguing the research was “crystal clear” that it could have a “hugely positive role in building a positive future for our wildlife, countryside, communities, families and economy”.

Without it, he warned the area “risks further decline”.

Mr Lucas said: “We know how much people love this region. Now is the moment to show that love by filling in the NatureScot consultation, saying yes to a new national park, ahead of the Valentine’s Day deadline.”

But Denise Brownlee, co-founder of the No Galloway National Park group, claimed that “the consultation in its current format is a farce”.

She said: “The public are being asked their views on information which is severely lacking in detail.

“From the very beginning, we questioned why a national park was being proposed before completing a thorough and independent review on the success of those already in existence.”