Have your say in Cairngorms National Park consultation

The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) wants to hear your views on nine big issues in the Park including flood management, housing and economic development.

The Big Park Big Questions consultation has been launched to gather views on the key issues to be addressed in the next National Park Partnership Plan 2017-2022 - a management plan for the Park which sets out a vision and overarching strategy for managing the area.

The consultation focusses on nine key issues:

• Landscape Scale Conservation – looking at woodland expansion and habitat enhancement
• Deer and Moorland Management – how do we balance grouse moor and deer management with wider habitat and species diversity?
• Flood management – what can be done to reduce the impacts of flooding?
• Visitor infrastructure – looking at where investment is needed to ensure the best possible experience for visitors
• Active Cairngorms – how can we use or improve our infrastructure in the Park to encourage people to be active and healthy?
• Learning & Inclusion – ensuring every child in Scotland gets to visit the Cairngorms National Park
• Community Capacity – looking at how we provide the best opportunity for local people to work together on shared priorities by giving consistent and clear support
• Housing – how can we work together to provide more affordable homes balanced against the need to protect what is special about the Park?
• Economic Development – looking at infrastructure investment, education, tourism, forestry and renewable energy opportunities

Speaking at the launch of the consultatio Brian Wood, Vice-Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) explained:

"Big Park Big Questions does not try to cover everything that happens in the Cairngorms National Park but instead, we are outlining the big issues on which we want peoples’ views.

"The National Park Partnership Plan will set out the priorities for all those involved in managing the Park. It is extremely important that we have a wide range of input from partners, communities, businesses and the general public to ensure that the Cairngorms National Park continues to thrive for people and nature.

"Partners are already delivering a great deal of work to enhance conservation, improve outdoor access infrastructure, enhance the visitor experiences and support rural development. The questions raised in the consultation reflect the issues facing communities within the Park but also the big questions about how the Cairngorms National Park benefits people across Scotland."

The Big Park Big Questions consultation will run until 30 September 2016.

You can get more information on the Cairngorms National Park Authority website and keep up to date on Twitter via @cairngormsnews using #BigParkBigQuestions.

Following the consultation, the proposed NPPP will go before the CNPA board before being submitted to Ministers for approval in the spring of 2017.

Photo courtesy of Mark Hamblin/2020VISION/CNPA