A PARK SYSTEM AND
SCENIC CONSERVATION IN SCOTLAND
Why are there no national parks in Scotland? This question
is frequently asked by visitors to Britain. Why indeed, in a
country which possesses such a great diversity of scene in
its mainland, its 800 islands and the 10,000 kilometres
(6,000 miles) of its coast? Why, too when it attracts many
millions of tourists who in turn contribute millions of pounds
to Scotland's economy? To understand why, one needs to
look back into history and, in doing so, to remember that
the pressures on the Scottish countryside over the years
have been much less than those in England and Wales
where 10 national parks have been established under the
National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, passed
in 1949.
In the 20 years or so up to 1967 a variety of bodies
contributed to conservation and recreation in Scotland. The
Forestry Commission developed its forest parks in Scotland
— in 1967 there were 5 such parks, of which the first was
established as long ago as 1935, and in total these take in
104,000 hectares (400 square miles). The Nature
Conservancy established National Nature Reserves (there
are now over 65) taking in some 107,300 hectares (415
square miles). The National Trust for Scotland (a voluntary
body) acquired for protection and public access a number of
extensive mountain properties; and planning authorities
designated Green Belts around major towns and, in the
countryside. Areas of Great Landscape Value for special
protection against unsuitable types of development.
EARLY BEGINNINGS
Background to understanding the situation in Scotland
today begins with the Access to Mountains (Scotland) Bill
of 1884. Although it failed, the Bill nevertheless marked the
beginning of a public interest in outdoor recreation. This
was soon to become closely linked with a parallel interest in
conservation of countryside of high scenic quality.
The development and recreational pressures on the Scottish
countryside were relatively light through the early part of
this century and the next significant step forward did not
occur until 1945. In that year an official government report
- prepared by the Scottish National Parks Survey
Committee, known as the Ramsay Committee as it was
chaired by Sir Douglas Ramsay — recommended the
creation of five national parks in Scotland, taking in over
484,000 hectares (1,870 square miles) of high quality
landscape. The areas recommended as suitable for national
parks by the Ramsay Committee, were:
AREA
1. Loch Lomond/Trossachs
2. Glen Affric/Glen Cannich/
Strathfarrar
3. Ben Nevis/Glencoe/
Blackmount
4. The Cairngorms
5. Loch Torridon/Loch Maree/
Little Lochbroom
HECTARES (approx.)
82,900 (320 square miles)
67,350 (260 square miles)
158,800 (610 square miles)
46,600 (180 square miles)
129,500 (500 square miles)
Again there was little demand for action and these
proposed national parks were not established. Instead, the
areas were designated as 'National Park Direction Areas'.
This did no more than provide a planning oversight of them
by central government which would help to retain their
character.
COUNTRYSIDE COMMISSION FOR SCOTLAND
ESTABLISHED
The Countryside (Scotland) Act of 1967 established the
Countryside Commission for Scotland as an agency of
central government. The Commission was given the duty of
helping provide, develop and improve facilities for the
enjoyment of the countryside, and responsibilities relating to
the conservation and enhancement of Scotland's natural
beauty. The Act also enabled local authorities to set up and
run country parks, these being quite small areas, generally
not less than 10 hectares (25 acres) or more than about
400 hectares (1,000 acres), with relatively intensive
countryside recreational use. Today there are over 30
formally designated country parks in Scotland, with others
at various stages of development.
On a larger scale, in the west of Scotland the former
Renfrew County Council towards the end of the 1960s
pioneered the development of a regional park, extending
over an area of about 12,000 hectares (45 square miles)
within which recreation is the dominant use in parts only.
Much of the area — known as the Clyde-Muirshiel Regional
Park — is carefully maintained in its established uses and
landscape character and management of the recreational
use is now the responsibility of Strathclyde Regional
Council.
There are many public authorities, both national and local,
and voluntary bodies who have an interest in the Scottish
countryside but their work is not always well co-ordinated.
The Countryside Commission for Scotland recognised this
lack of a comprehensive approach early in its existence and,
after carefully studying the situation, produced a report for
government entitled A Park System for Scotland. This
report was published at the end of 1974 as background for
public debate and was generally well received.
A COMPREHENSIVE RECREATIONAL STRATEGY
NATIONAL SCENIC AREAS
The Commission's proposals were designed to fit into the
t w o levels of local government which exist in Scotland
(region and district). They developed a comprehensive
recreational strategy which ranged from high-density
recreational areas, usually in or near towns, through a
variety of low-density recreational areas, generally remote
from urban centres, where recreational uses might be
secondary to such uses as upland agriculture, forestry or
water catchment.
While the park system is recreation orientated, adequate
conservation of scenic resources is seen as an essential part
of the concept. Beyond this, the Commission recognised
from the outset that there are areas in Scotland of
outstanding scenic importance in national and even
international terms which are not under great recreational
pressure at present and which it might therefore not be
appropriate to designate as parks within a recreational
system. In an extensive study carried out over a period of
three years the Commission identified forty such areas of
national scenic significance, covering in total about a million
hectares, or one-eighth of the land and inland water area of
Scotland (see map).
A fundamental point was that the recreational pattern
should impose conservation safeguards appropriate to each
level of intensity of recreational use. A recreational plan for
a region should impose restraints in recreational terms as
stringent as those for the conservation of scientific interest
or economic land uses such as farming and forestry.
From the idea of a comprehensive recreational strategy the
Commission developed the concept of a system of specific
areas designated as parks. Outside the parks there would
be, as separate entities, a whole range of smaller scale
recreational provisions (picnic sites, viewpoints, car parks,
etc.), the elements of which would be related to one
another and to the overall recreational planning strategy for
a region and the designated parks themselves.
THE PARK SYSTEM
The park system, as proposed in the report of 1974, had
four main elements:(1) Urban Parks — These are long-standing in most towns
and cities, but in the past have seldom been linked
positively in strategic terms with countryside provisions.
This link was seen as essential in future.
(2) Country Parks — The Countryside (Scotland) Act
provides the statutory authority for country parks; their
nature and range of size have already been described.
Designation and management is by district or regional
authorities, singly or jointly.
(3) Regional Parks — These could be some thousands of
hectares in area, with recreation as the dominant use in
parts only. The areas within a regional park which would be
intensively used for recreation would be linked together by
footpaths, with a view to reducing pressure on areas of
sensitive farming and forestry interests. Regional parks can
be designated by the regional authorities in consultation
with the Countryside Commission for Scotland and subject
to the approval of central government, and generally they
will be managed by the regional authorities with funding
support from central government. Legislation enabling
statutory recognition to be given to regional parks in Scotland
became available in 1981 and approval for a Fife Regional
Park, and the Pentland Hills Regional Park, near Edinburgh,
was confirmed in 1986.
(4) Special Parks — These would be areas already under
substantial recreational pressure and having particular
attributes of scenic character which give them a national
rather than a regional or local significance. This national
significance would justify the involvement of some national
input into decisions affecting their management and
development. The Countryside Commission for Scotland
proposed, therefore, that there should be a separate park
authority for each Special Park, w i t h two-thirds of the
members appointed by the existing local authorities and
one-third by central government to represent the scenic,
recreational, scientific and other important aspects of the
park. The Commission recommended that the park
authorities should have local planning powers and a very
high proportion of the finance for capital works and running
costs would be provided by central government, on w h o m
would rest responsibility for designation.
In the event, local authorities were not prepared to support
these proposals in their entirety and, accordingly, no action
was taken by government to secure the legislation which
would be needed for special parks to be established.
However, an encouraging development has been a joint
proposal by all of the planning authorities for the Loch
Lomond area (published in the Local Subject Plan for Loch
Lomond) seeking government recognition of the national
importance of the area and the need for joint management
in the national interest. The Plan has been adopted by all of
the authorities concerned and a Loch Lomond Regional Park
has been designated within the terms of the 1981
legislation for regional parks, with a joint park committee
representing both local and national interests.
The park was inaugurated in April 1988.
The results of this study were published in April 1978 in a
report entitled Scotland's Scenic Heritage. * This was the
first overall assessment of Scottish scenery and the
Commission's report was well received by the general
public, voluntary bodies and local government interests in
Scotland. The review was seen by the Commission and
government as providing a practical basis for landscape
conservation.
Protection of the forty National Scenic Areas is now
achieved in t w o ways. First, the Secretary of State for
Scotland has introduced new consultative procedures for
development control. The machinery now exists whereby
the Countryside Commission for Scotland is consulted by
planning authorities in relation to proposals for certain
classes of development — listed below — which are likely
to have a significant effect on scenic interest within the
National Scenic Areas. In the event of a planning authority
and the Commission not being in agreement as to the
disposal of a case, it is notified to the Secretary of State for
Scotland who decides whether or not to call in the matter
for determination centrally.
The six classes of development where the Secretary of
State has retained this limited power of intervention, should
a planning authority and the Commission disagree, are:
(i)
Schemes for five or more houses, flats or chalets
except for those within towns and villages for which
specific proposals have been made in an adopted local
plan;
(ii)
Sites for five or more mobile dwellings or caravans;
(iii)
All non-residential developments requiring more than
0.5 hectares of land, excluding agricultural and forestry
developments;
(iv)
All buildings and structures over 12 metres high
(including agricultural and forestry developments);
(v)
All vehicle tracks (including those for agriculture)
except where these form part of an afforestation
proposal which has been agreed by the planning
authority;
(vi)
All local highway authority roadworks outside present
road boundaries costing more than £100,000.
In addition the Forestry Commission has agreed formally to
consult the Commission on all afforestation proposals in
excess of 50 hectares within National Scenic Areas, but in
practice the Commission is also consulted on many smaller
schemes.
Developments not falling w i t h i n these categories will be
dealt w i t h in the normal w a y by the planning authority and
are not required t o be notified to either the Countryside
Commission for Scotland or the Secretary of State, t h o u g h
many planning authorities in fact consult w i t h the
Commission regularly on a range of issues affecting the
countryside. Some developments were not previously
subject to statutory planning control. Planning permission is
n o w required for buildings over 12 metres in height and for
vehicle tracks where these are proposed w i t h i n the National
Scenic Areas.
The Commission wishes to encourage development of the
right kind in the right place, in close co-operation w i t h other
local and national agencies, w i t h o u t p u t t i n g at risk the
incomparable quality of Scottish scenery — or its aesthetic
and economic value for tourism and recreation, and as a
productive w o r k i n g countryside. The C o m m i s s i o n ' s many
statutory obligations include a d u t y to consider the social
and economic needs of local c o m m u n i t i e s t h r o u g h o u t
Scotland.
The second means of protecting National Scenic Areas is
through land management and the further countryside
legislation of 1 9 8 1 allows planning authorities or the
Countryside Commission for Scotland to make management
agreements w i t h private landowners. Under such
agreements, land uses can be modified on occasion in the
interests of scenic conservation and steps designed to
promote the enjoyment of the countryside by the public. In
return, the planning authority or the Commission may make
a payment to the o w n e r s in recognition of the public benefit
secured by the agreement.
Of course, not all sensitive management needs formal
agreements. The Commission encourages good land
management and conservation of scenic resources and has
developed advice to help in this. For instance it has
published guidance on the siting and management of fish
farms and on the environmental management of ski areas. It
has made available a free handbook on countryside
conservation to farmers and is advocating improved f o r w a r d
planning of forestry together w i t h its control by a system of
statutory planting licences. In 1 9 8 8 the Commission
published guidelines for landscape management in the Loch
Rannoch and Glen Lyon National Scenic Area and is
continuing t o develop landscape strategies for the other
NSA.
CONCLUSION
But w h y were national parks as such not proposed w i t h i n
the Scottish park system? Briefly, to have tried to develop
the national park idea in the international sense w o u l d have
meant imposing a substantial element of national ownership
of land and a national management agency on the present
pattern of many different private and public ownerships and
a strong, democratically-elected local government w i t h its
o w n planning p o w e r s .
The Commission does not feel such an imposition to be
appropriate in a Scottish c o n t e x t as it lacks the flexibility
needed to develop land management policies w h i c h seek to
conserve traditional qualities and national and regional
characteristics in w a y s w h i c h take these into account in a
small country where most land is used for one productive
purpose or another. The Commission does not wish to see
extensive regions of land in Scotland managed as though
they were museums. That does not mean that some
particularly Scottish 'national' park system may not not be
appropriate. The proposed Special Parks w o u l d fill that role.
The Countryside Commission for Scotland will continue to
promote the development of a Scottish park system in
discussion w i t h central and local government
representatives, in terms of providing for the nation's
recreational needs whilst safeguarding our heritage of
scenery. Planning for wise land use, serving both local and
national interests, is essential if w e are to ensure the
continued enjoyment and conservation of Scotland's
countryside for both present and future generations.
A review of the effectiveness of landscape designations in
Scotland is currently u n d e r w a y . Changes and improvements
can be expected.
OTHER
READING
Scotland's Scenic Heritage,
Scotland 1 9 7 8 , £ 4 . 0 0 .
Countryside Commission for
Scotland's Country Parks: East Scotland and West Scotland
— t w o free leaflets, Countryside Commission for Scotland,
1988.
Scotland's Countryside
— Who's
Commission for Scotland, free.
Who -
Countryside
Scotland's Countryside
Then and Now — The Fifties to the
Eighties — Information Sheet, Countryside Commission for
Scotland, free.
A wide range of publications, including a number of free
informative leaflets on countryside matters, can be obtained
from:
The Information Officer
Countryside Commission for Scotland
Battleby
Redgorton
PERTH PH1 3EW
(Tel: 0 7 3 8 2 7 9 2 1 )
First published 1 9 8 1 . Fifth revision 1 9 8 8 .
© Countryside Commission for Scotland 1 9 8 8 .
CCS/1 Parks
JM5K0388
R E G I O N A L D I S T R I B U T I O N OF N A T I O N A L
SCENIC A R E A S
Region and Area
Tayside Region
Hectares
Areas m a r k e d thus * lie in m o r e than one Region.
Shetland Islands
Shetland
Total
Ben Nevis and Glen C o e *
Deeside a n d L o c h n a g a r *
Loch Tummel
L o c h R a n n o c h a n d Glen L y o n *
River Tay ( D u n k e l d )
River Earn (Comrie t o St. Fillans)
4,500
7,800
9,200
47,100
5,600
3,000
Total
15,600
77,200
Strathclyde Region
Orkney Islands
H o y and West M a i n l a n d
Total
Highland Region
Kyle of Tongue
North-west Sutherland
Assynt-Coigach
Wester Ross
Trotternish
The C u i l l i n Hills
The Small Isles
Morar, M o i d a r t a n d A r d n a m u r c h a n
L o c h Shiel
Knoydart
Kintail
Glen A f f r i c
Glen Strathfarrar
Dornoch Firth
Ben Nevis a n d Glen Coe*
The Cairngorm M o u n t a i n s *
14,800
18,500
20,500
90,200
145,300
5,000
21,900
15,500
15,900
13,400
39,500
16 3 0 0
19,300
3,800
7,500
69,600
37,400
Total
539,600
Ben Nevis a n d Glen C o e *
L o c h na Keal, Isle of M u l l
L y n n of L o r n
Scarba, Lunga a n d the Garvellachs
Jura
Knapdale
Kyles o f Bute
North Arran
Loch L o m o n d *
17,500
12,700
4,800
1,900
21,800
19,800
4,400
23,800
30,300
Total
137,000
Central Region
L o c h R a n n o c h a n d Glen L y o n *
Loch L o m o n d *
The Trossachs
1,300
13,900
4,600
Total
19,800
Fife Region
Nil
Lothian Region
Nil
Borders Region
Western Isles
South Lewis, Harris and N o r t h Uist
St. Kilda
South Uist Machair
108,600
900
6,100
Total
115.600
Grampian Region
The Cairngorm M o u n t a i n s *
Deeside and Lochnagar*
29,800
32,200
Total
Upper Tweeddale
E i l d o n and L e a d e r f o o t
12,300
3,600
Total
N i t h Estuary
East S t e w a r t r y Coast
Fleet Valley
9,300
5,200
5,300
Total
62,000
Region or
Islands Area
Scenic Areas
(Hectares a p p r o x )
Shetland
Orkney
Highland
Western Isles
Grampian
Tayside
Strathclyde
Central
Fife
Lothian
Borders
Dumfries and Galloway
Scotland
15,900
1 9,800
1,017,300
National Scenic Areas
11-15 King Street, Perth PH2 8HR
19,800
% Scottish
Land Surface
(approx)
0.19
0.19
6.85
1.47
0.79
0.98
1.74
0.25
0.00
0.00
0.20
0.25
15,600
14,800
539,600
11 5 , 6 0 0
62,000
77,200
137,000
19,800
12.91%
100%
Printed in Scotland by John McKinlay,
15,900
Dumfries and Galloway Region
= 7 , 8 7 7 , 5 0 0 ha