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Appendix 2 
To Minutes of Board Meeting of 12/03/04 

Priorities for the Year Ahead -Synopsis of Presentation by Andrew Harper, 
Head of Economic and Social Development Group 

I have been conducting an initial assessment (having only been in post for 4 weeks) of 
the priorities for my group in terms of our overall portfolio of policy areas. In doing 
so, there are several key principles that have underpinned my analysis, as follows • 

• Balance - The work of the Group needs to mesh with that of the other groups so 
that economic, social and environmental issues are considered in the round and 
truly coherent sustainable development solutions can be found; 

• Adding Value - We need to be mindful of what other stakeholders are doing and 
not duplicate existing roles and functions. Some of my initial effort is therefore 
focused on better understand the existing economic and social development 
‘playing field’, so that we can identify where the Authority can make a difference 
through, for example’ addressing gaps or ensuring that appropriate 
programmes/projects are rolled out on a Park-wide basis; 

• Enabling -As far as is practical, I am keen that we should not be involved in 
direct project delivery. I want to keep the Group to a manageable size and to use 
external delivery mechanisms to deliver our agenda (whilst recognising that this 
may not always be straightforward); 

• Longer term policy development versus early ‘wins’ - The Authority must be 
seen to be making a difference to the lives of people within the Park’s 
communities. Much of what we are doing in terms of strategy or policy 
development is not a quick process. Rather than purely focusing on such longterm 
work, I want to balance this with a number of early ‘win’ projects that can be 
implemented in the near future and that will bring positive benefits without in any 
way prejudicing the longer-term thinking. 

Policy Areas 

1. Housing
 
Everything that I have heard in my first few weeks would indicate that affordable 
housing should be at the very top of my agenda. I am therefore very keen to progress 
our thinking on this issue. Having interviewed for the Housing Policy Development 
Officer yesterday, I am confident that we will soon secure a very capable person to 
resource this area of our work and to support our Housing Development Working 
Group
 
2. Tourism
 
With around 70% of employment within the Park linked either directly or indirectly to 
tourism, the sector clearly has an extremely important role in the local economy. I am 
pleased to note that there is a very strong Tourism Development Working Group in 
place that is focusing primarily upon formulating a Sustainable Tourism Development 
Strategy and a Tourism Marketing Strategy for the Park, along with associated action 
plans. Linked in to the marketing work, consultants will be commissioned soon to 
develop a Cairngorms National Park brand. The Authority will also be exhibiting at 
the tourism trade Expo in Aberdeen in April - an early sign of the pro-active approach 
we intend to take in further raising the Park’s profile as a tourism destination. 

3. Social Inclusion
 
Social inclusion considerations are very much crosscutting in nature and will need to 
be taken account of in the work of all of the Park Authority’s staff. The Park for All 
Working Group is, of course, undertaking a scoping exercise to identify those groups 
that should be prioritised by the Park Authority and what initiatives could be pursued 
to address specifically identified barriers. 

Two particular groupings that we are already working with include people with 
disabilities and young people and I would expect these to remain as priority groups. 
The All Abilities Communication Network is currently redefining its role and 
relationship with the Authority. In the future it will act as an arms-length forum that 
can influence our approach to disability issues, both in terms of strategies/ 
programmes of activity and our corporate policies. With regards young people, a 
cross-Park schools group has been established and I will be keen to see clear 
consultative mechanisms and projects develop from this. 

4. Community Development 

A piece of work has recently been completed by the Scottish Participatory Initiatives 
and Caledonia Centre for Social Development, which sets out a recommended 
framework for community development in the Cairngorms. A report on how we 
might support community development will now be drawn up for discussion and, 
hopefully, agreement at the next Board meeting. The focus will be very much on 
communities of place (recognising that these relate to a variety of different interest 
groups), with support being directed towards addressing locally identified and agreed 
economic, social and environmental issues. 

5. Cultural Heritage

Some initial work has been undertaken to inform the development of a Cultural 
Heritage Strategy. We are now taking stock of the best way to progress this piece of 
work and to involve other relevant stakeholders in the process. Clearly there will be 
linkages to be made both with the Authority’s broader work on tourism and on visitor 
information/interpretation. Something that also needs to be considered is the extent to 
which we may wish to confine our focus on cultural activity to ‘cultural heritage’. 
The Authority has also been asked by Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise 
whether we would like to play a part in the 2007 Scottish Year of Highland Culture, 
so I will be meet with them soon to explore this opportunity further. 

6. Other Economic Development Issues
 
In addition to the policy areas I’ve already outlined, there are other specific economic 
development issues that need to be explored further • 

• Transport, which initially will be looked at via the Integrated Public Transport 
Working Group we are to set up; 

• Broadband - Is there anything additional the Authority can do to increase coverage 
within the Park? 

• Skills - the idea of a Park apprenticeship scheme for young people. 

In considering a framework for economic development in the Cairngorms, I intend to 
use the economic audit and business opinion survey that was jointly commissioned by 
the three Local Enterprise Companies in the Park as the starting point for my thinking. 

My Team 

Finally, I’d like to say that I’ve been very pleased to find that I have a good mix of 
competent and experienced individuals in my team. Having said that, I want to ensure 
that the team is properly ‘fit for purpose’. At the moment the most obvious gap 
would seem to be someone to handle those economic development issues that don’t 
fall within the specific policy areas handled by the existing staff members. This is a 
resource issue that I would like to address as soon as is possible to do so. 

I will also be trying to ensure that the team reaches its full potential through working 
together as a coherent unit and establishing appropriate collaborative links outside the 
team. Hopefully this, and everything else that I have just spoken about, will be 
clearly set out in the 2004/05 Operational Plan that we are currently pulling together. 

Andrew Harper 
March 2004