The Deputy First Minister of Scotland has vowed that the upcoming consultation on creating a Galloway National Park will be “genuine”.
Kate Forbes made the pledge at Wigtown Book Festival on Monday in an interview with former BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor.
In front of a packed audience, Mr Taylor described the national park debate as “contentious to say the least” – and sought to find out where Ms Forbes stood on the proposal.
He asked: “You have people who believe it could be an economic advantage and people who believe it will be a great constraint upon farmers.
“Where do you sit?
Ms Forbes replied: “I represent a large part of the Cairngorm National Park.
“And I guess a lot of constituents get quite annoyed about what that means for additional bureaucracy, planning, the impact on house prices and from an agricultural perspective too.
“But, equally, they love the fact that decisions are made closer to the people in those areas.”
“Will this be a genuine consultation?” Mr Taylor asked.
Ms Forbes said: “It will be a genuine consultation, absolutely.
“There is no decision that has been taken.
“Lochaber where I represent was keen to be a national park – but you [Galloway] beat them.”
Ms Forbes was also asked about whether the SNP needed to regain the trust of the
people.
She said: “Absolutely – that is the aim, the only way you can win is to regain trust that has been lost in every part of the country.”
She said: “Irrespective of whether you’ve got a pro-independence or a pro-union government, you have to acknowledge the part of the country that doesn’t support you. And it’s something I feel really strongly about, that we have lost this ability to build bridges between people and show respect to the other side.”