Council deciding on for or against Galloway National Park stance
A special full council meeting is happening today in Dumfries.
Last updated 4th Feb 2025
Councillors will be gathering The Bridge in Dumfries this afternoon where they will submit a final response on the ongoing NatureScot consultation.
It’s been said in a previous council meeting that the controversial Galloway National Park topic has divided communities like never before.
It was only late last year when councillors voted in favour of the motion to ask the Scottish Government for a local referendum on the subject, but Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon has declined this request.
Council chiefs have also mentioned that some elements of having a national park tie in with their vision of becoming ‘the natural place to live, work, visit and invest’.
Both sides of the argument will be discussed at length before a final decision is made.
The No-campaigners are hosting a demonstration before councillors walk in.
Liz Hitchmann, one of the co-founders of the No Galloway National Park group says it’ll be interesting to see how they vote:
“If they vote to support it then they’re basically giving it the green light to go ahead, and we just think that is wrong. We think it’s more or less on a knife’s edge, it’s really difficult to gauge.”
She added she believes they have done everything they can to help argue their side and promote concerns.
“We had meetings with all of the Tories, the Labour, and the SNP and previously with the Independents so I think we’ve done all that we can. I’ve heard that all the councillors have been inundated with emails from both sides of the debate.”
Having spoken with chair of the Galloway National Park Association (GNPA) Rob Lucas, he says that he is feeling “hopeful that the councillors will make the right decision”.
He talks us through the GNPA’s next steps regardless of the outcome:
“So, what we’ll be doing is completing our consultation response, and we’ll be urging everyone else to complete their responses because we’re rapidly approaching the 14th which is the closing date for the consultation.”