(copies to all relevant Highland Councillors, Community Councils and MSPs)

Dear Strathglass Community Councillors,

We wish to express our dissatisfaction with the way in which the proposal for an Affric National Park has been handled.

We do have reservations about the benefits which a National Park would bring to our community, and the degree to which local people would have any meaningful involvement in setting objectives and in managing a National Park.

Our main concern at this time, however, is with regard to the lack of clarity evidenced by the SCC in its consultations with local people, the highly unsatisfactory way in which these were conducted, and the SCC’s failure to consider the research done by the group which it set up to investigate the possibilities of a National Park.

At these public consultations, very little real information was provided. There were vague promises of sustainable employment and affordable housing, but no information about what jobs or houses there would be or who would provide them. Likewise there was little or no solid information about plans for changes to land use.

People were invited to write on post-it notes to say what they would like to see in a National Park, but there was no real opportunity to express the obvious concerns, such as increased tourism or loss of traditional employment, or environmental concerns such as species and habitat loss due to rewilding.

At the consultation meetings, a boundary map was displayed, with no information on alternative boundaries which had been considered; there was no explanation as to why this map was based on deer management group areas.

The online survey was extremely brief, and was based on the assumption that those completing it would be in favour of a National Park. It appears that only around 300 responses were received, out of a population of several thousand.

Many people we have spoken to were unaware of the survey or unable to access it online. There was no indication of to whom the personal information would be divulged, or of GDPR compliance.

Many people have expressed confusion due to the fact that there is apparently at least one other area including Glen Affric being proposed for a National Park; no information was provided about this.

The research group established by SCC met regularly over a period of almost two years and did a lot of work on all the aspects involved in proposing Affric as a National Park. Members of the group were dismayed to find, in November 2023, , that they were suddenly excluded from the process with no notice or explanation, and that SCC were proceeding without regard to their research. This appeared to happen when the group noted some possible issues with a National Park which would have to be addressed.

We are concerned that SCC may not have followed its statutory duties as stated in the Code of Conduct for Community Councillors.

We feel that, in fairness to the community, SCC should ensure that solid information is made available to all, and that every effort should be made to ascertain whether the community does, in fact, support the bid for a National Park. Ideally this should be done by distribution of printed material followed by a postal ballot, in order not to disadvantage those who have no internet access.

We look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Marjorie Wilson

Jim McAuley

Peter Elliot Smith