The Park Authority
The general purpose of a National Park authority is to ensure that the National Park aims are collectively achieved in relation to the National Park in a co-ordinated way. - National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000
The National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 sets out four aims for the park:
- To conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area
- To promote sustainable use of the natural resources of the area
- To promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public
- To promote sustainable economic and social development of the area's communities
Scottish National Parks differ from many other national parks around the world in that they have a social and economic development aim alongside the aims of conservation, understanding and enjoyment of the countryside. This is an explicit recognition of those who live and work in the park.
What
makes it distinct is:
- An aim of promoting social and economic development of the Park's communities.
- A statutory purpose of taking a collective and coordinated approach to the 4 aims of the Park.
- 20% of members (5 of 25) directly elected to the Park Board by the people who live in the Park, (in addition to a further 5 of the appointed members being local).
- a duty to prepare a National Park plan, approved by Scottish Ministers and to which other public agencies have to have regard.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority Board consists of 25 Members - 5 directly elected by the 12, 650 voters in the Park; 10 appointed by nomination of the 4 local authorities (Highland Council 5, Aberdeenshire 3, Moray 1, Angus 1) and 10 directly appointed by Scottish Ministers.
The Board came into existence on the 25th of March 2003 and held its first meeting on the 15th of April 2003. It took on its full powers and became fully operational on September 1st 2003.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority is principally an enabling and facilitating body rather than a regulatory body.
Enabling and facilitating powers include:
- anything that will help the Park Authority achieve its aims
- fixing and recovering charges for goods or services provided in the course of carrying out the aims
- carrying out research and related activities
- entering into agreements with any person in the Park with an interest in land to ensure that the aims of the Park are met
- giving grants and loans (with the consent of Scottish Ministers)
- securing the provision of nature reserves
- providing information and educational services and facilities to promote understanding and enjoyment of the Park
- providing facilities to encourage visitors to national parks for leisure purposes including camp sites, accommodation, meals and refreshments where necessary
- being a consultee on a range of matters undertaken by other public bodies, for example Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the creation of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), forestry activities and traffic regulation orders
It does have regulatory powers to:
- deal with those planning decisions which may have significant impacts on the Park (by calling in the application for determination).
- make management laws and byelaws to:
- protect the natural and cultural heritage of the Park.
- prevent damage to the land or anything in or under it.
- to secure the publics enjoyment of and safety in the Park.
The Authority also has a duty to:
- prepare a National Park plan and to consult on its preparation.
- keep proper accounts and accounting records.
- use its resources economically, efficiently and effectively.
- set up Advisory Group(s) with the purpose of advising the Authority on any matter relating to its functions.
Click here for the Cairngorms National Park Authority's (CNPA) policy on complaints.
