Upland and coastal Galloway and Ayrshire are being considered as our third National Park.
GallowayAyrshire Vision 2030
A National Park created for the people, people-led, community-driven
We are told that:
Ministers may offer Galloway Ayrshire up to £10m every year; but this is not yet clear.
to get these funds, we must say Yes to a National Park; before everything is clear.
Galloway Ayrshire National Park can be better-governed and better-delivered than Cairngorms or LLTNP; our Vision shows how we can evolve a better plan with Ministers.
What we have been told so far
Why we need a plan that evolves
Plans evolve as we develop ideas with communities, councillors, MSPs, government and agencies. As plans are costed and tested they will continue to require improvement. Plans aim to deliver more with better-designed, better-delivered solutions than Cairngorms and LLTNP.
Why Consensus matters to us all
Our Galloway Ayrshire Vision aims to achieve:
agreement and consensus on plans.
not everybody agreeing with everything but broad agreement on problems and solutions and
confidence in competent delivery between:
all those who want the best for Galloway and Ayrshire.
those already supportive of a National Park.
those with doubts and fears about what will be delivered.
those who support a National Park only if people-led and run.
How Concerns, once resolved become positive solutions
People’s fears and concerns, once resolved and doubts removed create positive solutions:
1. endless delays•reports, plans, structures, and frameworks. simple clear implementable plans
2. no delivery by 2030•no infrastructure•no jobs.•no houses• clear proven delivery plans
3. money wasted•high salaries•wasted opportunity low overhead•low cost•managed well
4. new government layers duplicating existing services. use existing assets and services
5. democracy diluted by quango governance. people-led•people first•plain talking •results
6. communities become disengaged; lose confidence and hope. community-driven
7. no plans actually starting before 2030. start in 2025 with oven ready projects and plans
8. overthought overbudget overcomplex plans that fail. simple costed implementable plans
We all agree that the problems we face need solutions
Those in favour and those against a National Park agree agree that upland and coastal Galloway Ayrshire and our Gateway towns face challenges. These include :
failing infrastructure.
ageing populations
lack of quality jobs.
habitat and nature failure,.
hotels and restaurants closing.
loss of housing, schools closing.
young people leaving.
limited skill learning options.
overTourism or vandalism at choke points
lack of visitors in shoulder season.
lack of public toilets, and car parks.
few business start-ups.
redundant buildings in need of updating and repurposing.
health issues, transport issues, poverty, social exclusion, communities losing hope.
How community-driven taskforces deliver simple plans
Simple, deliverable, achievable, competent plans for:
nature, jobs and skills, homes, visitors, Gateways, transport, infrastructure and business.
community-led taskforce teams, supported by experts and agencies. Doers, experts and specialists working together.
working with community councils, many with Place Plans and good engagement from and within our communities, to form the basis of rebuilding community, place and trust.
working with our three councils Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire, who each have well-developed executives, agencies and services. All three can significantly help our community taskforce teams achieve competent delivery.
Our Galloway Ayrshire Vision is to create a National Park,
to enable and leverage funds and competence to solve our problems.
to run our National Park as a competent, energised, people-led and community-driven, democratic National Park that delivers our Galloway Ayrshire Vision 2030.
People-led taskforces can deliver effective solutions
Low overhead, low cost, community-driven taskforces leverage services and support to:
build affordable community homes “rent in perpetuity” family focussed
create day visitor and staycation pathways to monetise shoulder season and maximise revenue and occupancy.
improve community/place infrastructure.
attract and retain young families.
re-skill communities
generate good jobs
help businesses to relocate here.
nurture and grow new businesses.
support existing business.
reverse nature and species decline.
restore peatland and natural habitats through community-led business initiatives.
create hot desking hubs and micro business units with Zoom rooms and 3phase power.
create new visitor facilities such as Gateway hubs, car parks, toilets and supporting our gateway towns.
repurpose and refurbish redundant buildings. Use planning gain scheme.
train and coordinate ranger and guide services to enhance visitor experience and protect communities.
Core principles: Low overhead high performance teams
Core principles: Our Galloway Ayrshire 2030 Vision is built round some core principles:
Economy, community and environment (the three pillars of the UNESCO Biosphere) these are the three keys to success.
A Park must work to longer-term timescales that outlast electoral and economic cycles, focusing on 2030 and beyond.
It must be driven by people-led community taskforce teams - supported by experts and agencies who are on tap but NOT on top.
It must reach out and empower young people and experienced retired folk, while making the most of worldwide Galloway Ayrshire connections.
Our local authorities and community councils are key partners, at the heart of delivery, but with no duplication of services and no conflict of interests.
Mairi Gougeon, Rural Cabinet Secretary, promised a “National Park created for the people of Galloway by the people of Galloway, South and East Ayrshire.” Let’s hold her to that.
Say Aye or Naw to a National Park but dinnae dae hee haw
A Call for Change
Our National Park could be invaluable, not just because of the beauty of our landscape but for the roles we can all play working together with support and funding.
Instead of asking,
“Should we say Yes or No?” or “Can we afford to turn down this £10m?” the question must be,
“On what conditions can we accept our Galloway Ayrshire Vision implemented as a National Park”
We need a shift in mindset. This requires a more dynamic approach to how our Galloway Ayrshire Vision can be implemented. How should any National Park be run and should it be people-led and community-driven to ensure delivery and performance?
a mindset that doesn’t just preserve Galloway Ayrshire but if we can support a National Park -it must be one that supports our farming, forestry, natural resources energy and nature but also enhances it and creates new and dynamic business and community assets and activities for the future.
As stewards of our landscapes and settlements, we owe it to future generations to find better answers.
1. Focus on Community All development must serve the people who live and work in any National Park. From affordable housing for locals to infrastructure that reduces tourism’s footprint, only a people-first approach will ensure developments are sustainable in every sense.
2. Redefine Conservation Conservation shouldn’t mean freezing landscapes in time. Instead, it should embrace change that enhances natural and cultural heritage whilst encouraging economic activity that supports Biosphere pillars of economy community environment. This requires innovative and people-led thinking.
3. Eco-tourism projects require locals and incomers to develop ideas whereby visitors can engage in activity without negative impact on landscape and community. Bold creative community action that delivers for all of us.
4 Agriculture initiatives that spawn world class micro agribusiness add value while maintaining environmental integrity. Young people in our Agri world need support, finance and focus to create opportunity that delivers results.
5.Energy, agri and forestry initiatives can benefit from local business and natural resources by processing or using existing resource; working with communities, to maximise the business of using and re-using our natural resources whilst energising and investing in new business and community skills.
Identify sites within and near settlements for starter business units and workshops for new micro businesses
Hot desking sites built in and around village hubs with Meeting and Zoom rooms
Small local conference and training sites, attracting day and overnight business from Edinburgh Glasgow, Carlisle & Manchester.
“Focus to support existing business”
Visitor Vision 2030
A clear Visitor Vision can help us adapt our visitor economy to some of the known postCOVID changes and allow communities and visitor business to thrive in 2030 without creating overTourism. Communities can help visitor business make bold change.
Positive controlled visitor pathways – Promoting Galloway Ayrshire to visitors, then signposting and guiding visitors to help them enjoy our natural, cultural and built heritage can limit overTourism and avoid choke points.
Brand Galloway Ayrshire can tell a story that encourages visitors to visit Galloway Ayrshire.
Individual Gateway towns and settlements can further develop attractions and hospitality infrastructure to offer and entertain our visitors.
Gateway centres with car parks then signpost attractions and encourage good experience and spending in local businesses. Gateway centres can provide toilets, cafes, shops and be the starting point for guides, trips, tours and engagement with businesses and visitor attractions.
Nature needs to be a central focus for Gateway Centres. Live feeds of Ospreys. Red squirrels on camera; fighting their battle to survive. Blackface ewes lambing on camera; vistas of Belted Galloway and of our managed landscape combine with Biosphere films of Silverflowe and footage of live Waterfowl dawn chorus.
Biosphere protection of our vulnerable upland and coast is our story that is told to visitors and locals alike; films, live feeds, still pictures that bring a sense of belonging and urgency to safeguarding nature, habitat and biodiversity. We have a good story, so we must tell it and tell it well and tell it loud.
15 years on, Dark Skies needs to perform like a “Star”, coordinating efforts and initiatives to present a clear and compelling offering to our customers. Dark Sky tours as part of our Galloway staycations to inform and entertain.
Cultural and Built Heritage tours that link together attractions and combine with nature and hospitality to curate World class short breaks, staycations, and conference attraction. Natural local foods and talented chefs must be further championed.
Galloway Ayrshire Events calendar can offer positive visitor experiences during the shoulder seasons both for day visitors from central belt Scotland and staycations targeting 7m population of Nort West England.
Shoulder Season Our visitor infrastructure, lacks footfall outside summer, in the shoulder months.
Our visitor economy is pressured financially and needs help to rebuild an offering that attracts visitors from January to April and September to November.
Activities that revitalise Galloway and Ayrshire in the shoulder months, can include biking walking, guided tours, combining our natural heritage with our built heritage.
Bike tracks that join Clatteringshaws to Loch Doon 1800m track will open up 150km of cycle tracks to all our Visitors. We need SOSE and FLS cycling gurus to help and guide us.
We want to help fill cafes restaurants hotels attractions and events from January to April and September to November. Attracting visitors in shoulder months can give confidence to good businesses like Gather at Laggan to open with confidence and success.
Over to us No longer can we sit back and expect others to do this for us. Over to us to perform now and support our businesses and create new business and encourage incomers.
We need to rebuild and repurpose closed or closing Pubs and hotels so that these combine with AirBnBs to give our guests a great experience. We need Gateway centres, car parks with toilets and guides and rangers to open up possibilities.
We need to partner with built heritage sites and monetise these and our Gateway centres to leave our staycation and day visitors wishing to return to Galloway Ayrshire for more.
Existing or new structures for National Park Gateway centres, within or by Gateway towns; can help Gateway towns monetise visitors. Guides, Rangers and transport can maximise activity, attraction, food and lodging income. Online AI visitor infrastructure combines with booking systems for food, lodgings activity and attractions business.
Community-led design and infrastructure teams can help buildings and business prepare and repurpose buildings that need change to meet the postCOVID and visitor needs for 2030 to 2050.
Our National Park needs a community-led and achievable deliverable 2030Vision
Community led teams will bring energy to create solutions that can revitalise rural and coastal Ayrshire and Galloway communities
Houses to replace AirBnB • Keep schools open • Attract young families • refurbish repurpose Pubs Hotels school buildings •
Houses to replace AirBnB • Keep schools open • Attract young families • refurbish repurpose Pubs Hotels school buildings •
MSPs, Community Councils, Dumfries and Galloway and East and South Ayrshire councils, SOSE,SSDA, working with communities can build robust teams.All our people and our Experts must trust each other and work together with our communities as teams, one building block at a time for the common 2030 goals.
We need start with a core team who can help build teams in 2025 fora Rural Housing Team, Jobs team, Visitor team, Nature team, and Infrastructure team.
We need to identify competent leaders to lead experienced local people and select Experts who are willing to help each team.
Galloway Ayrshire secrets for success of our 2030 Vision
We need any National Park to lever funds and community activity on a scale that reflects community need and size.
Low Staff costs; no duplication – we want any National Park to be run by doers, for the government money to be spent on front-line work and on employing effective, practical people who will get results for communities, the environment and nature. Delegate as much as we can to existing organisations and do not duplicate services and infrastructure, already in place, within our three councils, SOSE, NatureScot and others. Focus on targeted deliverable achievements for 2030 and 2035.
Starting Now – an interim authority to create “oven ready” projects. Encourage our communities to be bold, to innovate and to leave any failed thinking or redundant structures and frameworks behind. Clear goals; experts and elected representatives on hand , but not run by them; On Hand but not On Top.
Many of our Housing, Enterprise, Visitor, Jobs and Nature goals have long lead-in times so starting now makes sense.
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We all start from preconceptions about Galloway Ayrshire and what a National Park means or might mean to us individually and to our community.
Some of us want no change or to wind the clock back to better times. Others recognise the need for change.
We all agree we have problems we need to resolve that will not solve themselves
A vision becomes an achievable set of things that we know need doing and when broken down we know we can do together based on community as the driving priority for the common good
By community, we mean everybody, including our nature and our species who cannot vote or speak. We mean our businesses, our councils, our enterprise agencies and organisations that strive to support Galloway Ayrshire from our Destination Alliance SSDA, GSA Biosphere, our charities RSPB, National Trust, SDSO our government Kate Forbes and Mairi Gougeon and all our Young and all of Galloway Ayrshire connections in every corner of the globe wherever they are.
The future is a Vision of where we want to be and what we will and can achieve by 2030 and 2035
We do this for our young people and all visitors who may wish to come and responsibly and sympathetically share in our nature and cultural and built heritage
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Communites as Gatewys or Gateways linked to communities inside, outside and leading to any GallowayAyrshire National Park have much to offer visitors.
Gateways will benefit from access to funding and enterprise for all those associated and supporting Galloway National Park.
Day and staycation visitors can be encouraged to visit Gateway towns, both as a base and a means to enjoy attractions and hospitality within and around our Galloway Ayrshire Gateway towns.
Gateway towns will benefit from visitors and visitors will benefit from Gateway towns.
Creating infrastructure and Gateway hubs within and nearGateway towns will enable communities to benefit from visitors with minimum impact on their daily lives.
National Park Nature Vision
Nature has lost up to 70% of habitat and some species are in terminal decline. Vulnerable habitat needs urgent help and species that are under threat need action to reverse their decline.
Helping Nature and habitat and species recover is a key Galloway Ayrshire Mission for 2030 and 2035.
Specific actions that we can take as individuals means addressing problems as we are able and uniting and alerting all our communities and visitors to the understanding that our species and habitat are the core of our world and they need a voice as central to our Community and National Park. Species and habitat that cannot speak are telling us every day that they are dying and need our urgent help.
Helping species and depleted habitat can also be a means of community regeneration:
depleted and damaged peatlands can be restored as a business with government and other funding.
lost biodiversity and treelines along with montane birch and Scots pines can be replanted as a business with government and other funding.
create working holidays where visitors can join our restoration businesses during their staycation to help champion and build our restoration process. EnviroWork on holiday.
Plant and sponsor a Scots Pine scheme to enable visitors to plant then monitor its growth yearly for a small fee.
champion native species by having live feed in Gateway centres from Osprey, red squirrel, eagles
helping our farmers, foresters and energy companies restore nature within our managed landscapes. We need to respect and understand the livelihoods and skills of our land managers and we must support them against unreasonable measures that governments or academics may seek to impose.
City dwellers need to be encouraged to respect our Nature, our communities and our Land Management professions in farming, forestry and energy.
Action plans in each community will help us all to rebuild Nature and habitat one building block at a time
We must work together and this is a fight we must win
GSA Biosphere as our UNESCO protection designation stands for many of the core environmental principles that our National Park should enshrine.
Our National Park can become a central focus for all nature lovers throughout the UK to come and lend their voices and support for Galloway Ayrshire to become a model for habitat & species regeneration.
Our National Park 2030 HomesVision
Homes for young families• keep our schools open • communities thriving
Homes for young families• keep our schools open • communities thriving
Homes to drive community regeneration
We need New Housing to community scale for “rent in perpetuity” to replace the homes we lose to 2nd homes, retirement homes, AirBnBs and to attract more skilled young families to our fragile upland and coastal communities. Starting now.
Two to five houses at a time in multiple settlements across our upland and coastal communities within each catchment area can have positive transformative impact.
Community-led Housing team, with SOSE, Loreburn, SOSCH and council support can start to deliver by 2030.
Working with Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire, our hard pressed councils, to devise an upland and Coastal rural Council Tax regime, whereby our 2nd homes and AirBnBs contribute additional Council Tax, and for this contribution to be “ring fenced” to help create New Housing to community scale.
We need to use existing Tax incentives help to encourage people’s Investment in New Housing to community scale. Any investment however small is a powerful appreciated commitment.
We need to further develop Councillor Dempster’s idea to use “planning gain’ to incentivise owners of redundant buildings to gift or refurbish them for either community benefit or to increase visitor housing or Infrastructure.
Our National Park 2030 Work Vision
Training•Skills•Jobs•families• rebuilding communities
Training•Skills•Jobs•families• rebuilding communities
Quality Jobs and Skills Learning for Work Learning for people Business infrastructure
Natural Power from Dalry sent 3 professionals to a course on Wind Turbine renewable engineering in Dumfries; they concluded that the course was not fit for purpose; instead of giving up, Natural Power helped Dumfries College reconfigure this course; now working well, Natural Power have recruited several engineers from this Dumfries College course.
Glenkens Upland partnership sponsored 8 apprenticeships that resulted in full time roles at minimum cost to the community.
We want all National Park spend to positively help local people and local firms who support apprenticeships, learning and employing young and older people seeking new skills. New business space within our communities and targeted help to develop firms in areas that will succeed in 2030 and 2050 will need new workspace, new and bold thinking and help from mentors, angels and others.
Our Vision is to create 80-250 new jobs every year to invest in both young families and residents requiring work and training. New jobs and new skills for everyone.
Creating and developing our skills alongside attractive new premises will encourage successful businesses from our cities to move to Galloway Ayrshire by 2030 to grow and thrive with our help, investment and encouragement.
We plan to develop our own Community Investment Institution CDFI ta help investment in existing, new and incoming business.
People developing skills for fulfilling and rewarding work; requires training, innovation and preparing all of us for the industries and work opportunities that will thrive in 2030 for rural upland and coastal Galloway and Ayrshire.
Community-led teams, with Expert support will be encouraged to be bold, demanding and to offer, young, old, infirm, retired folk, indeed all of us, every help to contribute through work and skill to our Galloway Ayrshire 2030 thriving communities for Work 2030 Vision.
Our Galloway Ayrshire 2030 Vision.
Using our existing resources and talent in Galloway and Ayrshire we have “oven ready” projects that will help our communities build “rent un perpetuity” homes to replace the houses we are losing to AirBnB, 2nd homes and retirement homes.
Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary Rural Affairs is potentially offering £10m funding every year. We need to plan and act positively to ensure we deliver.
Cabinet Secretary Rural Affairs, Mairi Gougeon may offer up to £10m every year to help us to create a National Park that will work for Galloway and Ayrshire.
Our Park can potentially help create and secure our future.
We welcome Ministers appointees on a National Park board but we want minimum 10 members of any board to be elected from local residents living within the final Park area. 5 or more Scottish Minister members chosen by our 10+ elected members from a list of 10 proposed by Ministers. The board will be responsible for overall oversight of Galloway Ayrshire Vision
Any board should be non-executive and should delegate executive powers to an Executive drawn from local people, who will be ultimately responsible for delivery of Galloway Ayrshire 2030 Vision.
We need you to persuade our MSPs that Ministers should trust our communities to pick “Experts on Tap Not Experts on Top”
Energising our communities will build a better vibrant and successful Galloway and rural Ayrshire, where we can live work, innovate, create; where our young stay and attract young families from cities.
2030 progress with your help through 2035 can deliver thriving communities and recovering Nature.
Changing our world is possible. We’ve done it before.
Come with us on our community-led journey
Families with new homes to community scale two to five units at a time, with new jobs and skills; new workspaces and Community Finance will impact us all positively.
Improve our Shoulder season visitor offering and coordinate our innovative day visitor, and staycation program with exciting pathways and increase yearlong employment and business opening, to impact us all positively.
Build car parks, toilets, and Gateway centres to draw curious visitors away from choke points to learn the true story of our vulnerable Osprey, Eagle, Red squirrel; to help us support an environment where nature is understood and cherished, can impact us all positively.
Revitalize Pubs and hotels; repurpose redundant buildings; turn Schools into centres of lifelong learning; create spaces for communities and visitors to live work play and learn and impact us all positively.
Gateway towns from Annan, Dumfries, Castle Douglas to Dalmellington Straiton Girvan Cumnock and Stranraer can join our day visitor and staycation pathways to improve visitor monetisation and impact us all positively.
Ready to take the next step?
Learm how repurposing and reopening our closed Hotels and our closed Schools can create Jobs during development and increasingly better jobs as we attract young people to leverage their skills with the help of “Pro Bono” mentors and SOSE and our hard pressed but dedicated councils from Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire.
Learn how you and your family can help.
“Transforming Galloway and Ayrshire needs people working with and in our communities. Practical projects that deliver year on year. Any chief executive needs to be working for and amongst us. “— Source
Ayrshire Galloway 2030 Vision team
We have had 15 years of Dark Skies Park and little or no community benefit.
Enough is enough. Great people working within Dark Skies now deserve our support and help to make Dark Skies the “Star” of the Galloway Ayrshire visitor experience.
We have a World standard Planetarium in Kirkcudbright, with a great team; We need to champion them and coordinate their Shows and training with Tours, hospitality and with our new SDSO at Clatteringshaws.
SOSE have invested £200,000 to enable SDSO to invest £1.5m We need other investors and Angels alongside to create New Dark Skies businesses and complimentary attractions and we need to help them, starting now.
We need Telescopes for rent as other Dark Skies areas provide; we need training education and involving our schools and colleges to promote our Dark Skies Young champions.
We need coordinated community energy to create World beating attractions that educate and excite our own children and attract and entertain our visitors. Help us.