It's useful to know who is in the National Park Working Group. It is an informal group that is being supported by Nevis Landscape Partnership. If you would like to help the working group please get in touch - lochabernationalpark@gmail.com
Mike Pescod - see below
Lewis Pate - see below
Kate Willis - Councillor with The Highland Council Ward 21 Fort William and Ardnamurchan
Steph MacKenna - Director of Nevis Landscape Partnership
Emily Bryce - Operations Manager for National Trust for Scotland at Glencoe and Glen Finnan
Rachel Pate - Agricultural Officer, Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate
Alison Stewart - Kinlochleven resident
Mike Pescod is a mountain guide who has been running Abacus Mountain Guides for 23 years in Lochaber, and living here for 28 years. Mike is also the chair of Nevis Landscape Partnership which is a charity that aims to protect and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the Nevis area. The board of Nevis Landscape partnership believes that National Park designation would be generally beneficial for the Nevis area and for residents right across Lochaber.
Before learning about the work and governance of National Parks in Scotland, Mike was slightly sceptical of their benefit and concerned about the effects on house prices and availability which are major problems for us in Lochaber.
Having heard Grant Moir (CEO of Cairngorms National park) describe the wide ranging work of Cairngorms National Park, how it is governed and the projects that it delivers, Mike’s position has shifted to one of being very much in support of the designation for Lochaber.
Mike still has questions about housing and transport but, overall, he feels that bringing control of planning back to Lochaber and having this well funded and resourced organisation as a focal point for us to develop our own partnership plan will help us all.
In particular, the work towards nature recovery and restoring biodiversity whilst helping businesses become environmentally sustainable without the loss of jobs in the area would be very welcome, as well as input towards managing for our huge number of visitors, especially with a well funded and resourced team of rangers working in Lochaber.
Lewis Pate
I have lived in Lochaber for 14 years and would like to see a more sustainable approach to caring for the amazing area we all live in.
My background is business management and I have worked in the environmental sector since moving to Fort William. I am a Chartered Environmentalist and have worked within Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park and am currently the Cairngorms National Park Farm Conservation Advisor. Prior to this I worked as a consultant advising crofters and farmers throughout the Western Isles, Lochaber, Skye and Argyll. I am a Director of the Nevis Landscape Partnership, having previously worked for them as their Environmental Projects Manager.
I see a great deal of positive work and significant resources focussed on the Cairngorms through their National Park Authority and would like to see comparable resources available for Lochaber to support many of the challenges we face here.
I see great opportunities available to us and am keen to expand the conversation around how Scotland’s next National Park could be tailored to work effectively for the people and future generations of Lochaber.
Kate Willis
Ecologist, Hillwalker, Councillor
Kate has lived in the Highlands for nearly 20 years, and is currently a Councillor for Fort William and Ardnamurchan. Kate worked for several decades as an aquatic ecologist, she has worked as a wildlife tour guide in the far north, and more recently for Lochaber Environmental Group developing active travel projects and infrastructure. Kate spends her spare time walking in the Scottish mountains.
Kate used to be sceptical about Scotland’s National Parks but can now see the many benefits they bring to an area, not only providing support and funding for community projects and landscape scale environmental and biodiversity restoration, but also helping with visitor management and sustainable travel infrastructure. We all know that Lochaber is being overwhelmed with visitors but does not have the resources to manage them and provide the facilities that are needed - for both visitors and locals. Kate firmly believes a National Park designation would help Lochaber build a more sustainable future for local residents, visitors, nature and climate.
Dear LNP Working Group, Can you please make urgent arrangements to have a public meeting set up in Fort William so that members of the community can ask questions, raise concerns that are brewing in the community. There has been a lot of comments on social media from the local community, who genuinely feel there concerns/opinions/views are being thwarted, dismissed and not taken seriously. I appreciate the working group is determined to move forward and push all the positive aspects as to why Lochaber should be the next NP for Scotland, however the views/concerns/feelings of the public and local communities in Lochaber deserve to be heard, listened to and taken into consideration. The people and communities of Lochaber have a moral right to have their voices heard, so please give them that opportunity. The LNP Working Group should be following a democratic process here, so everyone in Lochaber has equal rights and deserves to be involved/included in all matters relating to this project.
ReplyDeleteYou are spot on with your observations of the flawed process. Lorna Slater thinks she can railroad through her own personal agendas, however most of her past police’s have rightly been thrown out after costing the public a significant sum of money to cover her failures such as the bottle return scandal.
DeleteThe proposal for a Lochaber National Park is presented in a far too positive and overwhelming way. I believe that very many more would welcome an open and simple means to strongly resist having a National Park here and a simple and straightforward opportunity to resist has not as yet been adequately facilitated. We do not need the hassle of even more officials and others interfering unnecessarily in our lives. Many would prefer that the nature of our community and surroundings should be left as they are.
ReplyDeleteA NP in Lochaber will not suddenly ensure a more sustainable future for residents, visitors etc. Look at your neighbours in Cairngorm N Park, unable to effectively control visitors in hot spots ( park has attrracted more to them), the local residents can't afford housing, lack of housing for incomers - teachers, hospitality staff etc etc, nature being disturbed by more visitors, communities fragmented by airbnb, holiday homes contributing nothing to the local economies, pressure on medical facilities, more wild pathways and cycle tracks, Park board seeking to take control of public forestry land and oversee access etc.... more residents and visitors requires more funding not over 50% of Park funding going on staff wages/pensions/benefits. Have any of the village streets and markets flourished since Scotalnd's NPO have been created?.... no they have declined and often more severly than non Park areas....loads of outdoor shops and cafes but no artisans and heritage crafts & industries. Don't be fooled by the promise of the golden goose egg, more like a bantam not quite at point of lay.( countyside term)!
ReplyDeleteThe individuals behind the nomination each appear to have a vested interest in the creation of a National Park in Lochaber. Their naive tunnel vision is frightening.
ReplyDelete