Galloway chosen as site of Scotland's third national park

The decision, announced today (Mon July 22), means proposals for a Tay Forest National Park in Highland Perthshire will not proceed at this time.

Perth and Kinross Council submitted a bid for the new national park in February this year.

Perth and Kinross Provost Xander McDade said: "It is obviously very disappointing that the Tay Forest National Park has not been chosen for designation at this time but we congratulation Galloway on their success.

"We put together a very strong bid and the appraisal committee agreed that the Tay Forest met the criteria for national park status along with two other bids - Galloway and Lochaber. They highlighted the strength of the area's natural heritage and that 19% is already covered by national conservation designations.

"I'd like to thank everyone who worked on and supported the bid and all those who took part in our consultation.

"Even without National Park status, we are fortunate to have such an area of outstanding natural beauty in Perth and Kinross and will continue to work hard to deliver on the aspirations of our communities in Northern Perthshire."

Consultation on the National Park bid took place over eight weeks from October to December 2023.

Communities, land managers, businesses and other stakeholders were consulted on proposals for the park.

We received
 
• Over 350 responses to our Consultation Hub survey 
• Over 160 attendees at in-person drop-in sessions 
• Around 40 land managers at a dedicated in-person workshop 
• 24 representatives from 19 environmental organisations at a dedicated online workshop

Consultation shows support for the bid with over half of respondents (56.8%) agreeing or strongly agreeing with the idea of their community being located in the proposed national park with a third against (33%) the proposal.