CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
MINUTES OF THE BOARD MEETING 
held at the Village Hall, Laggan 
on Friday 7 November 2003 at 1.30pm 
PRESENT 
Peter Argyle 
Eric Baird 
Stuart Black 
Duncan Bryden 
Sally Dowden 
Basil Dunlop 
Douglas Glass 
Lucy Grant 
David Green 
Bruce Luffman 
Eleanor Mackintosh 
Anne MacLean 
Alastair MacLennan 
William McKenna 
Andrew Rafferty 
Gregor Rimell 
David Selfridge 
Robert Severn 
Sheena Slimon 
Richard Stroud 
Andrew Thin 
Susan Walker 
Bob Wilson 
In Attendance: 
Jane Hope, Interim Chief Executive 
Nick Halfhide, Head of Strategic Policy 
Andy Rinning, Head of Corporate Services 
Fiona Newcombe, Head of Natural Resources 
Kristin Scott, Senior Access Officer 
Apologies: 
Joyce Simpson 
Angus Gordon 
Welcome and Introduction 
1. Andrew Thin welcomed the public to the meeting, and thanked all those who had come to 
the open event the previous evening to talk to the Board. 
Minutes of Last Meeting – approval 
2. The minutes of the previous meeting (10 October) were approved with no changes. 
ADMINLG L:\_CNPA Board\Board Minutes\Board minutes 7 november 2003.doc 15/12/03 

Matters Arising 
3. None. 
Members’ Code of Conduct (Paper 1) 
4. Jane Hope introduced the paper which followed up the Board’s agreement at the previous 
meeting to a draft Code of Conduct. That draft Code was agreed subject to the addition of 
a section that addressed the issues arising from Members’ dealing with planning and 
development control matters; it was agreed that this should be modelled closely on the 
equivalent section 7 in the Councillors’ Code of Conduct. Paper 1 offered such a section 
for approval, to be added to the draft Model Code. 
5. In discussion the following points were made: 
a) A "not" needed to be added after the second word of paragraph 7.8 (to read "you 
should not organise".”); 
b) There was some discussion about the implications in practice of paragraph 7.3. It 
was considered right that Members should be open to all views and be prepared to 
listen, but they needed to be careful not to be in a position of being accused of 
being unduly or improperly influenced. It was agreed that a further sentence 
should be added to the end of paragraph 7.3 to the effect that: "Wherever 
practicable when meeting with parties with an interest in a planning application 
you should be accompanied by a CNPA official." 
c) There was some discussion about the interpretation of paragraph 7.4. It was felt 
that this did not imply that property ownership by a Member automatically 
excluded them from the planning committee – the crucial element of the paragraph 
was that an interest was so extensive that it would lead to frequent conflicts of 
interest. 
6. The paper was agreed subject to the amendments at (a) and (b) above. 
7. Action: 
a) Jane Hope to forward the CNPA draft code of conduct, as approved by the 
CNPA Board, to the Scottish Executive by 1 December 2003. 
Access Legislation: New Burdens under the Land Reform Act and 
Proposed Extension to Speyside Way Long Distance Route (Paper 2) 
8. Kristin Scott introduced the paper which drew the Board’s attention to the duties and 
burdens for the CNPA which would flow from implementation of Part 1 of the Land 
Reform Legislation (dealing with rights of access) in 2004. It also sought the Board’s 
support for helping to take forward work on the Speyside Way Long Distance Route, for 
which responsibility would eventually fall to the CNPA when the Access legislation took 
effect. Development of any proposal to vary a Long Distance Route (e.g. to extend it) 
was a matter which currently fell to SNH, given their responsibilities for Long Distance 
Routes. However, they were currently unable to progress the preparatory work needed to 
allow a proposal to be put to Scottish Ministers on the route extension. The paper 
therefore proposed that the CNPA should assist with this preparatory work to facilitate 
progress with the route extension which had been stalled for some while. 
9. In discussion the following points were made on the general implications for the CNPA of 
the Part1 of the Land Reform Legislation: 
a) The CNPA would be able to instigate new path networks once the legislation took 
effect and the CNPA became the Access Authority in the National Park. The 
CNPA would then also be liable for the implications of creating those paths, given 
its duty to maintain a core path network. 
b) The CNPA was under a duty to set up one or more Access Forum(s) for the 
National Park. Once Scottish Executive guidance was confirmed on the 
establishment of such forum(s), the CNPA would take the process forward. The 
guidance was due to be published in draft form for a 12 week consultation 
expected in January 2004. The CNPA would be able to make comment as 
consultees. The guidance would finally have to be laid before the Scottish 
Parliament before being finally approved, and current thinking was that August 
2004 was the earliest likely date for the guidance on arrangements for Access 
Forums being known for certain. 
c) The Access Working group would be the obvious grouping of the Board to look at 
the details of setting up Access Forum(s) and would be expected to report to the 
Board from time to time on progress. 
d) The current distinctions between local path networks and long distance routes 
(LDRs) might need to be examined in the light of the new access legislation. 
While there was a public and political will to retain LDRs, and these remained 
very important, it was arguable whether the distinction from local path networks 
would continue to make sense in the future. 
e) The question was raised as to whether being the Access authority would attract 
more funding. The Interim Chief Executive recalled that the Scottish Executive 
had advised at an early briefing session to the Board that the CNPA should bid for 
this in the usual way through its corporate plan. 
10. In discussion the following points were made on the specific issue of the Speyside Way: 
a) An early meeting with Moray Council, the CNPA and SNH would be sensible, 
and the Access Working group should be kept informed. 
b) The question was raised as to whether extension of the Speyside Way represented 
good use of resources within the National Park, and what benefits the designation 
as an LDR would bring. There was no reliable date on user numbers nor user 
enjoyment of LDRs in Scotland. However a survey in 1994 had indicated that the 
Speyside Way had an estimated usage of full route and section walkers of about 
5,500 per year, and also showed that an estimated £600,000 was spent in the local 
area by users in a typical year. In order to provide better information of this sort 
for managing authorities, the LDR National Forum was developing a monitoring 
methodology common to all routes. 
c) There was a danger of looking at the Speyside Way extension in isolation and not 
in the context of other alternatives for deploying CNPA funds. On the other hand, 
it was recognised that there was significant public pressure locally to extend the 
route, particularly given the delays over recent years. Highland Council had 
previously expressed a wish to see the route extended, and the principle of 
extending the route had been confirmed by the Scottish Office in 1997 but had run 
into difficulties with funding and identifying an agreed route. 
d) The question was asked as to whether the Speyside Way could be extended further 
to Laggan. 
e) The Badenoch Way already existed, and could be used to provide part of the route 
extension for the Speyside Way. However, the specification for an LDR was of a 
higher standard than that for other paths, and the Badenoch Way may therefore not 
be feasible as a substitute. 
f) This was a very local issue, and had been reported in the local press (The 
Badenoch and Strathspey Herald), but Members from other areas of the Park had 
therefore been unaware of the issue. It would be helpful for Members to be kept 
abreast of local issues across the National Park. 
g) On funding there were possible technical difficulties with SNH providing funding 
through grant aid if this was interpreted as one Non Departmental Public Body 
(NDPB) in effect funding another. It was therefore likely that the CNPA would 
need to bid for money from the Scottish Executive for extending and maintaining 
the route. The question was raised as to whether this interpretation of SNH’s use 
of funds applied to capital funding as well as revenue funding. 
h) Given past commitments, the CNPA was obliged to assist in taking the 
preparatory work forward that would speed up the process of developing a firm 
proposal. The question of funding that proposal still needed to be addressed. 
11. The paper was agreed subject to the actions set out below. 
12. Action: 
a) Kristin Scott to take forward the arrangements as set out in the paper for 
engaging someone under contract to develop a proposal for the Speyside Way 
extension; 
b) Kristin Scott to clarify whether or not SNH would be able to provide capital 
funding for the extension of the Speyside Way. 
Staffing and Recruitment Committee – oral update (Andrew Thin) 
13. Andrew Thin reported that the Staffing and Recruitment Committee had met several 
times to progress senior recruitment. The meetings had been in private because of the 
confidential and personal nature of the issues. Recruitment to the senior management 
team posts (as set out in paper 3 to the Board Meeting on 27 June) had progressed in two 
phases. Internal candidates had been invited to apply, and two had been considered by the 
interview panel to be sufficiently good to appoint without external competition (Nick 
Halfhide had been appointed to the Head of Strategic Policy Post, and Fiona Newcombe 
to the Head of Natural Resources post). The post of Head of Corporate Services would 
continue to occupied by the current secondee for the immediate future in the interests of 
continuity. The remaining 4 posts had now been advertised externally, and with the 
assistance of a recruitment consultant, the Committee were progressing the interview and 
final selection process. Once this process was complete, the Chief Executive posts would 
be advertised externally, probably early in the new year. 
14. The internal candidates who were unsuccessful in their applications had been given 
feedback by the Interim Chief Executive and by the Chair of the interview panel (Andrew 
Thin). They remained in their current posts. 
15. In response to a question about the use of a recruitment consultant, the Convener 
explained that there were insufficient resources in-house to deal with a large recruitment 
exercise, and it was also very helpful to have the objectivity which an external specialist 
brought to the process. 
16. Andrew Thin raised the matter of membership. The Committee had agreed that it would 
be helpful have an additional member, and that Bruce Luffman would bring useful 
experience to the Committee. Committee membership was a matter for the whole Board 
to decide, but there had not been time since the last meeting of the Committee to bring a 
paper to that Board meeting. The Convener was therefore raising the issue with Members 
to see if they wished to have such a paper at the next Board meeting, or whether they were 
content to agree to the proposal then and there. Members agreed to the proposal without 
the need for a future board paper. 
17. It was agreed that Bruce Luffman should be added to the Staffing and Recruitment 
Committee. 
AOCB 
Campsite at Glenmore 
18. Andrew Thin drew Members’ attention to the temporary closure of the campsite at 
Glenmore, which had been reported recently in the local press. A subsidiary of the 
Forestry Commission Scotland (Forest Holidays) were proposing to close the campsite 
from January to May for refurbishment. There were concerns locally about the losses to 
business at potentially busy times of the year such as Easter. 
19. There has been no prior consultation, and there was a role in this situation for the CNPA 
to try and bring parties together to find a better way of handling the consequences of the 
refurbishment, which was clearly a useful improvement to the site. There was no 
suggestion that it should not go ahead; it was more a case that some way should be found 
of managing the process to minimise the disruption to visitors and impact on local 
businesses. It was noted that a planning application had not yet been lodged for the 
works. 
20. Andrew Thin reported that the CNPA had approached the Forestry Commission Scotland 
about setting up discussions with interested parties to look at possible options. 
Working Groups 
21. Andrew Thin reported that the first tranche of working group meetings had been set up on 
the basis of experimental arrangements that tried to make best use of Members’ travelling 
time. Finding suitable meeting slots for a large number of different groups had been 
difficult, with the result that some of the timings had not been ideal. Members were asked 
to give feedback to Jane Hope or Nick Halfhide so that a pattern of meeting slots could be 
settled that suited everyone. 
Meeting Dates for 2004 
22. Andrew Thin explained that a draft list of meeting dates circulated previously had needed 
to be amended to take account of the requirements for planning committee meetings. The 
usual fortnightly cycle would have meant a planning meeting on 2 January – this had been 
moved to Monday 5 January (10.30am, Ballater). The cycle would then resume with 
meetings fortnightly on 16 January, 30 January, etc. The first Board Meeting would be on 
16 January. The correct list of meeting dates for 2004 would be put to the Board for 
formal approval at its next meting on 5 December. 
Information about Local Press Coverage 
23. A number of important issues had come up at the day’s Board meeting which had been 
reported in the local press. Members from other areas of the Park had therefore been 
unaware of the issues. It would be helpful for Members to be kept abreast of local issues 
across the National Park. 
24. Action: 
a) Jane Hope to look into ways of providing all Members with information about 
local press reporting of relevant issues. 
Date of Next Meeting 
25. 5th December 2003 in Nethy Bridge Community Centre, Nethy Bridge