The Cairngorms National Park Authority would like to thank all those who took the time to get involved in the recent Main Issues Report (MIR) consultation, receiving well over 300 responses. With the MIR setting out the Park Authority’s ideas for how the Cairngorms National Park should develop or change in the future, this was everyone’s main opportunity to have their say on would should and should not happen.

All the information gathered during the consultation process will now be considered by planning officers in preparing a draft Local Development Plan (LDP) for the Park, which will go out for public comment towards the end of this year.

The LDP is the starting point in making any planning decisions – it sets out how places should change or stay the same and the best location for new homes, businesses, public services and so on. It is used by the CNPA and by the five local authorities covering the Park. Local Development Plans have to be updated every five years to ensure they are relevant to people and their communities.

As this is not the first LDP for the Cairngorms National Park it is expected that many of the sites and policies of the current LDP will be carried forward but with some changes, especially when it comes to making the delivery of affordable housing more achievable.

Planning Manager at the CNPA David Berry said: “There were a good number of comments about all the main settlements in the National Park as well as in relation to the main policy issues – with the issue about future housing need receiving the most comments overall.

“We would like to thank everyone who took the time to make comments or attend one of the consultation events. It’s important that people got involved at this early stage and we have some really constructive comments to work with going forward.”

The CNPA planning team will now spend the next few weeks going over all the responses in detail with the aim of reporting a summary of the MIR consultation to the Park Authority planning committee in May. The Draft Local Development Plan will then be published with a further period of public consultation at the end of 2018.