Councillors in Dumfries and Galloway are still undecided on whether or not to support a Galloway National Park.
A special full council meeting was held today (Wednesday) to decide the council’s response to NatureScot’s consultation on the proposal – one of the most divisive issues to hit the regions for many years.
And when it came to voting on whether or not to support the idea of a national park being created in south west Scotland, 25 councillors voted “undecided”, with 15 choosing “tend to support”.
Campaigners both for and against Galloway becoming home to Scotland’s third national park gathered at The Bridge in Dumfries ahead of the meeting.
SNP Group leader Stephen Thompson and deputy Katie Hagmann had proposed the local authority didn’t take a stance on the issue for now.
Councillor Hagmann said if the process moves forward, there would be a further round of public consultation and “at that point we would have much more information”.
She said she had received 50 emails on the subject in the last 24 hours alone and added: “For us to say we strongly support or strongly oppose, or even tend to, I’m not able to do that because I don’t know what it is I’d be supporting or opposing.
“If this goes to the next stage, we then come back and fully scrutinise what is on offer.”
Labour councillor Linda Dorward had proposed councillors choose the “tend to support” option, a suggestion backed by Labour colleague Keith Walters.
She said: “When considering a national park and the opportunities it offers, we suggest maintaining the status quo is not an option unless we seek the further demise of our region and its significance in Scotland.”
She believed saying yes in principle would “give us the Scottish Government’s ear, something I suggest we need much, much more of in this region”.
She did not want a “national park at any cost”, and wanted local representation and expertise on the national park board, with planning remaining under the council’s remit.
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She added: “Funding for a national park represents an economic lifeline I would suggest for the many, not the few.
“If we say no at this juncture, the funding will remain in Edinburgh and will not, as some imply, be added to the council’s block grant.
“If we don’t use it, we lose it, and our region cannot afford that.”
Democratic Alliance depute group leader Councillor Campbell had proposed that the local authority should not respond to the question until “such times as a clearly defined proposal for a Galloway National Park is presented by the SG, based on any new legislative requirements, and that further wholly independent public consultation is carried out”.
This was defeated by the proposal from the SNP councillors, with their “undecided” proposal being backed 25-15 over the Labour “tend to support” option.