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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 
Paper 3 02/03/07 

CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 


FOR DECISION 

Title: A LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP PROJECT FOR THE PARK 

Prepared by: Quentin McLaren, External Funding Officer 


Purpose 

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landscape 
Partnership Project as a means of delivering various Priority Actions of the National Park 
Plan and to seek the Board’s permission to proceed with a Stage 1 application to the 
Heritage Lottery Fund by 1st October, 2007. 


Recommendation 

That the Board: 

a) agrees that the Cairngorms National Park Authority should submit a Stage 1 
application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a Landscapes Partnership Project on 
October 1st. 


Executive Summary 

With the draft National Park Plan now resting with Scottish Ministers the Authority is now 
looking to establish partnerships and methods to co-ordinate delivery of the 7 Priorities for 
Action set out in the draft Plan. The development of a Heritage Lottery Fund ‘Landscape 
Partnership Project’ is an ideal delivery mechanism that would not only provide a clear and 
beneficial approach for prioritising and funding public benefits but would also through its 
development, aid the establishment of effective working partnerships. A Landscape 
Partnership Project’ could deliver elements of most Priorities for Action. If successful the 
Landscape Partnership Project would invest up to £2m of Lottery money – doubled with 
match funding - over a 3-year period through a suite of projects and initiatives across the 
Park working in partnership with a range of interests. 



A LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP PROJECT FOR THE PARK – FOR DECISION 

Policy Context 

1. 
The National Parks (Scotland) 2000 Act sets out 4 aims : 

i. To conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area; 

ii. To promote sustainable use of natural resources of the area; 

iii. To promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form 
of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public; 

iv. To promote sustainable economic and social development of the area’s 
communities. 

2. 
These four aims must be achieved collectively and in a co-ordinated way, and it is 
the statutory function of the National Park Authority to ensure this collective and 
coordinated approach. This makes Scotland’s National Parks a new kind of National 
Park in the UK. The very process of a Landscapes Partnership process embodies 
such a philosophy in its approach to landscape management. 

3. 
The Cairngorms National Park Plan was submitted to Scottish Ministers for approval 
in December 2006. Contained within the Plan are 7 ‘Priorities for Action’ which the 
partners in the Plan-making process have agreed to be implemented as a matter of 
priority. These are:

a) Integrating Public Support for Land Management 

b) Conserving and Enhancing Biodiversity and Landscapes 

c) Supporting Sustainable Deer Management 

d) Providing High Quality Opportunities for Outdoor Access 

e) Making Tourism and Business More Sustainable 

f) Making Housing More Affordable and Sustainable 

g) Raising Awareness and Understanding of the Park 

4. 
In looking to deliver these Priorities for Action the Authority’s External Funding 
Officer has determined that the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘Landscape Partnership 
Project’ has the ability to assist delivery on various elements of these priorities. One 
of the first actions under priority for Action 6.2 - Integrating Public Support for Land 
Management is: 

“to identify the various public benefits that are priorities in the National Park 
and tailor public support mechanisms to deliver them.” 6.2 (1a) 

5. 
The process of the bid in defining the public benefits for targeted support, and the 
potential to lever other sources of funding, makes the LPP an ideal mechanism for 
delivering this action. 

6. 
A Landscape Partnership Project is one of a suite of programmes managed by the 
Heritage Lottery Fund and is defined as :-

“allowing partnerships representing a range of heritage and community interests to 
tackle the needs of an identified landscape whose various elements may be in 
different ownership”. 

7. 
The initiative comprises a portfolio of projects which combine to provide a varied 
package of benefits to an area and its communities which live, work, and visit it and 
is designed to use heritage conservation as an integral part of rural regeneration. 
Between £250k and £2M is on offer to fund Landscape Partnership Project bids -
which can include any development funding – but which must be matched with 
other monies. For grants under £1m, 10% of match funding must be found by the 
applicant and for grants of £1m or more 25% must be found – although in practise 
the Heritage Lottery Fund would expect to see match funding closer to 50%. Such 
match funding can however include in- kind contributions which is a very useful 
mechanism for local groups and communities which may lack cash but has time, 
human resources, and enthusiasm. 

8. 
Currently there are 2 important match funding Programmes which the Landscape 
Partnership Project could access. Firstly the new EU ERDF funding programme for 
2007-13 will be better understood by the time the funding mix for the Landscape 
Partnership Project is being established. Looking at the priorities as currently set out 
in the Scottish Executive’s consultation document it would appear that a Landscape 
Partnership Project could sit well under ’green’ tourism, eco-energy, and other 
heritage objectives in both Programmes on either side of the hill. 

9. 
Secondly the developing Rural Development Programme Tier 3 of the Land 
Management Contract could provide important match funding for the landscape 
management elements of the Landscape Partnership Project. This plus potential EU 
funding therefore represents key sources of significant additional funding through 
which the Authority and its partners may finance delivery of National Park Plan 
objectives. 

10. 
The Heritage Lottery Fund states that programmes of work, projects, and activities 
MUST include the following 4 priorities to ensure long term social, economic, and 
environmental benefits :-

a) 
Conserving or restoring the built and natural features that create the 
character of the landscape -Landscape conservation 

b) Conserving and celebrating the cultural associations and activities of the 
area -Celebrating culture 

c) Encouraging more people to access, learn about, become involved in, and 
take decisions on their landscape heritage -understanding and enjoyment 

d) Improving understanding of local craft and other skills by providing 
training opportunities -heritage skills. 

11. 
The Heritage Lottery Fund intends to utilise this programme on land which has a 
distinct local landscape character which is recognised and valued by local people. 
The Heritage Lottery Fund states that “You will need to know what makes this 
landscape area a special and distinctive part of the UK culture”. 

12. 
The National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 sets three conditions which an area 
designated as a National Park must satisfy :-

a) That the area is of outstanding national importance because of its natural 
heritage, or the combination of its natural and cultural heritage; 

b) That the area has a distinctive character and a coherent identity; 

c) That designating the area as a National Park would meet the special needs of 
the area and would be the best means of ensuring that the National Park aims 
are collectively achieved in relation to the area in a co-ordinated way. 

13. 
However despite the usefulness of the second condition the authority will still 
require to describe the character of the Cairngorms National Park more precisely in 
order to understand the trends, threats, and opportunities going on in the landscape 
and which any Landscape Partnership Project would address. A number of small 
contracts are already being let or are about to be let to assist in this process as part of 
existing research strategies within the 2006/07 Operational Plan and the information 
gained from these will assist in characterising the Cairngorms landscape for he 
purposes of any bid . 

14. 
It is intended that this Landscape Partnership Project application will cover the 
whole of the Park and this will be emphasised in discussions with the Heritage 
Lottery Fund culminating in the submission of a pre-application form to indicate 
Cairngorms National Park Authority partners interest in taking the bid development 
further. 

15. 
Following the completion of the pre-application form in March, a full Stage 1 
application will be worked up for the submission date of the 1st October. A decision 
will be given by the Heritage Lottery Fund 6 months after that. If successful we will 
be allowed another 6 months or so to submit a Stage 2 submission with a further 6 
months for a final decision. This means with a successful October 2007 Stage 1 
application we could be in a position to commence the Landscape Partnership Project 
by early 2009. The project then needs to be completed within 3 years and all claims 
made and paid within 4 years. 

16. 
This project does not exist in isolation from other Landscape Partnership Projects - 
nor indeed from other HLF-funded projects - and we will be in competition with 
other Landscape Partnership Project applications across the UK. It is important 
therefore to understand what is happening around Scotland and elsewhere. There 
are other LPP’s being worked up in Scotland at the moment – one in Loch Lomond 
and the Trossachs National Park, one in Dumfries and Galloway, and one in the 
Northern Isles. Discussions with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park 
have already been undertaken to ensure complementarity of bid as well as 
understanding the remits of their scheme. 


Delivering Sustainability 

17. 
The project is implementing some of the aspirations of the National Park Plan which 
in themselves have been drawn up under the remit of sustainability including an 
Environmental Impact Assessment. The Heritage Lottery Fund also seeks to include 
sustainability in all its funded projects. This Landscape Partnership Project bid will 
continue these aspirations and will continually address the issues of sustainability in 
project choice, synthesis, and delivery and maintenance. 


Delivering a Park for All 

18. 
As above, the Landscape Partnership Project will embody equality of opportunity 
and access throughout the project synthesis process including implementation and 
maintenance of the project portfolio. 


Delivering Economy, Effectiveness and Efficiency 

19. 
The Landscape Partnership Project will work within the proposed new management 
regime of delivering the National Park Plan ie through the Board, National Park Plan 
Theme Groups, National Park Plan Internal Co-ordination Teams, and Management 
Team. A small Working Group will be set up to progress the Landscape Partnership 
Project supported by the External Funding Officer. 

20. 
The Project would be delivered using the ‘PRINCE’ – ‘PRojects IN Controlled 
Environments’ - methodology of project management (used in the Park Entry Points 
Project) which would ensure an open, robust, objective, and well-tried approach to 
competent project delivery. 


Financial Implications 

21. 
Starting from now it will require much of the time of the External Funding Officer up 
to September to take the project forward to a Stage 1 application along with officers’ 
time servicing the Landscape Partnership Project Working Group to make the 
Landscape Partnership Project happen. We do have a great advantage in that the 
National Park Plan contains many of the aspirations of the community and 
stakeholders which other Landscape Partnership Projects have had to glean from 
original consultations. The potential high value of funding to support a wide range 
of agreed National Park Plan priorities merits the investment of this staff time. 

22. 
There is the potential to access up to £2M of Heritage Lottery Fund monies which 
must be matched with other monies. Experience gained by the External Funding 
Officer as Manager of the Tweed Rivers Heritage Project (the first Landscape 
Partnership Project in the UK) demonstrated that of the £9m worth of project, £4M 
came from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £5M was levered from the various funding 
partners and external funding programmes (including £1M of ‘in kind’ 
contributions). 

23. 
To invest :-

a) such a large sum of money 

b) across the whole Park 

c) within 3 years and 

d) in a coordinated manner 
will give huge long term added value to this investment. 


Presentational Implications 

24. 
Over the next 2 months there will require to be undertaken an intensive and 
extensive series of meetings with the various partners and stakeholders in and 
around the Park in order to ensure all groups have a chance to participate in the 
Landscape Partnership Project process. Ultimately some will be disappointed 
whether by their projects not making it through the synthesis process in the final bid, 
being rejected by the Heritage Lottery Fund at Stage 1, being absorbed into another 
project to make a better project, or deferred/taken forward by other means. 
Providing this is made clear in the ‘rules of engagement’ then the negative issues 
arising from this will be minimised. 


Implications for Stakeholders 

25. 
It is fair to say that this Landscape Partnership Project has the potential to positively 
engage a variety and number of stakeholders of the Park – including partners, 
residents, businesses, and visitors in a very practical and positive way 


Next Steps 

26. 
Cairngorms National Park staff will utilise the information contained in the National 
Park Plan Consultations report to arrive at a more precise idea of what the nature of 
the Cairngorms Landscape Partnership Project is about. This will then be trialled 
with partners and stakeholders over the next 2 months. From this the ‘Expression of 
Interest’ application will be prepared for discussion with the Heritage Lottery Fund. 


Quentin McLaren 
February 2007 

quentinmclaren@cairngorms.co.uk