YOU cannot miss them. Hulking signs in farmers’ fields and smaller posters in shops proclaim “No Galloway National Park”.
Since the winning bid to be the preferred site for Scotland’s newest national park, those against it have made their passionate feelings clear, so I headed to Dumfries and Galloway in search of what so far are the less visible views of those in favour.
I had heard controversy has followed the Scottish Government naming the winning bid in July, but I’m taken aback by how polarised the debate has become. It reminds me of both the independence referendum and Brexit.
I visit national parks all over the world and they’re usually welcomed largely with open arms. The first one in England opened in 1951, but Scotland has been much slower, not getting a national park until 2002, perhaps due to our complex issues with land ownership.
NatureScot is currently running a massive consultation process with a view to the park opening in 2026. It’s easy to see why its backers want a national park here. Dumfries and Galloway is quite simply one the most spectacular parts of Scotland – a wildscape of hulking hill, tumbling glen and cobalt loch.
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A natural playground for everyone from hikers to mountain bikers, it’s also peppered with small communities that have sometimes struggled in recent years to attract jobs and investment.
Mark Donald, owner and guide at Dumfries Tours, spends his working life showing visitors all corners of the region: “This is a beautiful area that many people don’t know about and the national park would put us on the map. It really needs both protection and investment, which would come with a national park. It would encourage sustainable development and investment that would then encourage future generations to live and work here.”
Over the years I’ve been lucky to visit (and then write about) glorious Dumfries and Galloway more than a dozen times and it always amazes me how relatively quiet it is compared to the busy parts of the Highlands. The tourist numbers bear that out, but there have been concerns about overtourism with the park, which Donald understands.
“I can see why people are worried and we need to listen to that, but this is not just a line on a map like the NC500. The park would actually allow us to manage tourism like has happened in Loch Lomond with their ban on camping and improved facilities to cope with tourism.”
Travelling through Dumfries and Galloway, the majority of people I meet are in favour, and I’m encouraged that even those who see the benefits are keen both to recognise other views and also to engage with them, as Donald makes clear. That may yet help dial down the tension.
Tourism contributes almost £500m a year to Dumfries and Galloway and 14% of the region’s jobs are said to be directly due to tourism. In a region with its fair share of economic issues, where people often tell me they feel ignored, those in favour see a unique window opening.
Nathon Jones of the Vault Art Centre in Newton Stewart beams: “If it brings people to the region and our town it can only be a good thing as we need visitors. More revenue for a community organisation like us would mean more investment and let us push on with improving the place even further.”
In Gatehouse of Fleet, I chat to Patricia Picken of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance. “The national park chimes with our Responsible Tourism Strategy, which runs from 2024 to 2034. It’s about building sustainability from the ground up,” she explains, adding that engaging and listening are key to that.
The exact boundaries of the proposed park haven’t yet been finalised, but would likely be similar to the area covered by the Galloway Forest Park and the larger Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Unesco Biosphere. The Biosphere was behind the park bid, with chair John Thomson stressing: “The Biosphere is great, but the national park would really take things up a level in a positive way”.
Thomson, like many of those I meet in favour, returns to a belief that the national park is for all and will remain that way going forward. “It’s about working together,” he says. “It’s also about getting the best national park for the people living here, through the consultation period and then locals being involved going forward.”
Dumfries and Galloway is famous for its mountain biking and after bashing around the brilliant blue run at Kirroughtree I find, at Breakpad Bike Shop, a firm fan of the Galloway National Park in Sam Hill. “I’m 100% happy to shout about it. It would really join the dots and bring so many businesses and people together, and give us a real structure going forward.”
As Sam and I peer out over the world-class trails she adds: “People often just don’t know about Dumfries and Galloway. I was in Italy recently and there was no awareness. When I mentioned there were plans for a national park, everyone was instantly interested and said that alone would sway them into coming, so it’s a game changer that would open up one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland.”
NatureScot has created a national park proposal information hub at newnationalparkgalloway.commonplace.is.
For more tourist information on the region see scotlandstartshere.com.
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