PARK BOUNDARY
- The Designation Order excludes much land recommended by SNH for inclusion.
This affects Council representation.
SNH area - 4580 sq km. Draft Order - 2460 sq km.
Revised Order - 3800 sq km, includes 70 in Laggan outside SNH area, so SNH area is cut by 19%.
Main exclusions - 700 sq km in north Perthshire (SNH report), and 90 in Moray and 50 in Angus. - The Executive's draft Order and revised Order gave no rational grounds for exclusions.
- SNH scored each area for the three qualifying criteria of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 - outstanding national importance of its natural and cultural heritage, distinctive character and coherent identity and meeting the special needs of the area in a co-ordinated way. An area's maximum possible score was 15.
NEMT used SNH scores for 16 areas later excluded in the draft Order.
For 4 areas now included in the revised Order, SNH had scored 8, 9, 10 and
12 (average 9.7).
For 9 areas now partly included, SNH had scored 5, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10 and
11 (average 8.4).
For Perthshire areas that are still excluded, SNH had scored 9, 11 and 11
(average 10.3).
So, SNH's earlier scores for areas that are now excluded in the revised Order
exceeded scores for areas now included or partly included.
Council representation:
| Highland | Aberdeenshire | Moray | Angus | Perth & Kinross | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNH recommendation | 4 (40%) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Draft Order | 5 (50%) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Revised Order | 5 (50%) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Summary of landscape, wildlife and recreation value of excluded areas
North Perthshire. Holds a vast tract of glens, moorland, high peat-land
and arctic-alpine land including some of Scotland's most remote and road-less
hills. Has a large Natura 2000 site at Beinn a' Ghlo, another at South Drumochter
adjoining North Drumochter in Inverness-shire, one at Caenlochan shared by
Angus and Aberdeenshire, Sites of Special Scientific Interest at The Cairnwell
(where the boundary cuts through a site shared with Aberdeenshire), Glas Tulaichean,
Glen Tilt, Glen Fender, Glen Garry, and Loch Moraig, and Designed Landscapes
at Blair Castle and Falls of Bruar.
Glen Esk, Angus. SNH's boundary was the Firmounth road and Tarfside,
with over 30 households included, some of the glen's best birch woods and
peat-lands, hill farms with abundant waders, and moorland that has been the
subject of much ecological research. The Order's east boundary is at Auchronie
by Invermark, with only five households in the park and the best birch woods
excluded.
Moray exclusion near Advie. SNH stated that the boundary here required
further consideration and the area did not qualify on natural heritage grounds
alone, but this omitted that the Act specified three criteria (3rd bullet,
above), and natural heritage was only a part of the first criterion (which
it shared with cultural heritage). The area has big birch woods including
Lower Strathavon Woodlands SSSI, the lowest part of Avon, and miles of Spey
(a designated European site).
North East Mountain Trust, Aberdeen, 10th December 2002