Conservation and housing groups hit out yesterday at the Cairngorms National Park’s adoption of new planning guidelines, claiming that they promote destruction of the park.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) formally adopted its local plan at a board meeting at Strathdon on Friday, making it the first Scottish national park to have its own local plan determining developments within the conservation area.
The authority has endorsed the building of more than 1,900 houses at An Camas Mor at Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Carrbridge, Nethybridge and Ballater.
The plan replaces local plans covering the four council areas in the park — Aberdeenshire, Angus, Highland and Moray.
Conservation charities claim it permits the construction of holiday homes and largely ignores the recommendations of a government reporter in 2009.
Gus Jones, convener of the Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group, said: “This plan promotes the destruction of irreplaceable natural heritage in the Cairngorms and promotes excessive, open market development that is destroying the very special features the national park authority has a legal duty to protect.
“The natural environment and local communities are paying the price for a park authority that has unacceptably ignored its principal duties. "
Drennan Watson, convener of pressure group the Cairngorms Campaign, said: “The housing policy with the local plan is in effect a badly thought through tourism policy which will greatly increase the impact on the environment, which the park was created to preserve.
“It does not promote sustainable tourism, neither does it provide economic benefits for the local area, and it is socially damaging.”
Scottish Native Woods manager John Parrott said: “This plan will lead to the destruction of native woodlands through excessive development. The park authority has allocated land for hundreds of houses within native woodlands. This area includes some of our most biologically diverse ancient woodlands. Further housing developments threaten protected species, recreation and landscape.
“The local plan is contrary to the primary aim of the national park — to conserve and enhance natural and cultural heritage.”
The three men were among representatives of 16 charities and environmental groups who wrote to Scottish ministers protesting about the plan in November.
The chairman of a housing campaign group at Ballater also wrote to Scottish ministers and MSPs over the issue but claimed his letters were ignored.
Phil Swan, of the Campaign Against Ballater 250 Houses, said: “We are feeling badly treated in this community.”
He claims the provision in the plan for up to 250 homes to be built in the national park near Ballater is detrimental to the park and the local area.
“The number of houses proposed is excessive — way beyond the needs of the community — and the need for sustainable, affordable housing has not been addressed,” he said.
“The environment will be destroyed by housing and we are not getting the type of housing the local area needs.”
CNPA planning committee convener Duncan Bryden said: “We are delighted to have arrived at this day, when we can say that we have our own local plan – the first for a Scottish national park.
“The journey to get here began in 2004. It has been a long, and not always straightforward one, but we have listened to what people have said and feel we have a local plan which aims to achieve a consensus between people’s needs for housing, recreation, economic development and the special environment of the park.”
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