Cairngorms National Park Extends its Boundaries
The Cairngorms National Park’s boundaries were extended on 4 October 2010, including parts of Highland Perthshire and increasing the size of the Park by one fifth. Previously extending to 3,800 sq km, the Park now covers 4,528 sq km, or 6% of Scotland, and is twice the size of the Lake District National Park and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. The move brought in the communities of Blair Atholl, Killiecrankie and Glenshee, increasing the population of the Park by 1,000.
Now that the Park has extended its boundaries, work is underway to create a new Local Development Plan that will cover the whole of the Park, and this is due to be completed in 2013. The planning regime in the Park currently involves the Cairngorm National Park Authority and the five local authorities operating in the Park – Aberdeenshire, Angus, Highland, Moray and Perth and Kinross. At present, there are separate local plans covering Aberdeenshire, Angus, Highland and Moray, and a new single Local Plan is due to be adopted on 29 October 2010 to replace these.
The Perth and Kinross Highland Area Local Plan and the Perth and Kinross Eastern Area Local Plan will remain. The new Local Plan will outline detailed planning policies to support development within the Park, and all planning applications will need to consider the objectives of the new Local Plan. Eventually, the Local Development Plan will bring together each local authority’s approach to planning within the one planning regime, and it is hoped this will create a more cohesive and streamlined approach to planning, furthering the development aims of Cairngorm National Park.