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Appendix 3 
To Minutes of Board Meeting of 12/03/04 

Priorities for the Year Ahead - Synopsis of Presentation by Murray Ferguson, 
Head of Visitor Services Group 

"A bit about Murray"

An Aberdeen Geography graduate who later studied Rural Resources Planning in 
Aberdeen and Business Administration with the Open University. Worked for SNH 
(13 years) in a variety of roles (e.g. at headquarters, as an Area Officer and on 
National Nature Reserves). Most recently worked on the Cairngorms, coordinating 
SNH’s work that led to the establishment of the Park. Also worked overseas for two 
and half years in development and environmental projects amongst rural poor in 
South America (Bolivia). And worked as a ranger with NGOs in few different parts 
of Scotland. Grew up in Banchory on Deeside and spent a lot of time in NE Scotland. 
Now lives in Inverness. Has a strong personal interest in everything to do with having 
fun in the outdoors. 

Key Priorities in year ahead 

1. Building and developing the team – the team of staff who’ll form the Visitor 
Services and Recreation Group 

Three new staff will start in next six weeks and a key priority will be induction, 
familiarisation, training, building relations with partner organisations and local 
communities. It is already clear that we need to work very closely with colleagues in 
different Groups in the NPA. But we also need to work as part of wider teams beyond 
the organisation - e.g. with ranger services. We need to keep under review that staff 
resources are adequate for the tasks ahead. 

2. Taking on responsibilities under the Land Reform Legislation 

a) Establishment of the Local Access Forum 
We need to have widespread discussion with partners and interested parties 
through workshops and then establishment of LAF before the end of calendar 
year. Then we will need to invest considerable staff time getting the Forum up 
and running effectively and working well with the Board 

b) Core Path Plans 
We have three years available. There is a big opportunity to link work on Core 
Paths with an emerging Community Development strategy by getting 
communities to identify the local paths that they would like to see in place. There 
is already enthusiasm at community level but frustration too at difficulty in putting 
paths in place and finding funds to maintain them. NPA can play a strong 
enabling role here. 

3. Considering the future of the access delivery initiatives 
Access delivery initiatives have been developed in each local authority, e.g. the Upper 
Deeside Access Trust (UDAT) and Eastern Cairngorms Access Project (ECAP); 
Moray Access Strategy and the Highland Access Project. They have been very 
successful at pulling in additional funding and delivery at local level (e.g. ECAP is 
worth £2.4 million over three years). But there are big issues for the NPA such as the 
patchy coverage of these initiatives and gaps in delivery (e.g. Strathdon). They are all 
coming to significant break points soon (Highland Access Strategy ends this autumn 
and UDAT and ECAP in September 2006). One way to manage this would be to 
work with partners on the preparation of an Outdoor Access Strategy for the 
Cairngorms. 

4. Integration of the Ranger services 

The Ranger Services Working Group has now met for first time and Visitor Services 
Officer is to start in few weeks time. There are an exceedingly complex set of 
arrangements at present with at least 14 ranger services, a variety of employers 
(including community groups, charitable trusts, NGOs, local authorities and public 
agencies) and a range of funding partners, of which SNH is the most significant. 
There are various pieces of the jigsaw to assemble before we can start to move 
forward. Any review should focus on the needs of the National Park generally and 
the National Park Authority. The current system has many strengths – local diversity, 
cost effective for public sector, close to land managers, etc. But we need to be aware 
of disadvantages too – e.g. lack of visible NPA presence on the ground, cumbersome 
and bureaucratic management and liaison arrangements, etc. There are particular 
issues in Angus Glens Ranger Service which we need to address soon as the funding 
is due to run out shortly. In the meantime priority will be to focus on communication, 
getting ready for access legislation and raising their profile with visitors. 

5. Providing Visitor Information to meet the needs of the Park 

Visitors are not just from outside the Park but include locals too. We are all visitors 
to parts of the Park at some time. The visitor experience starts with the expectations 
of the visit, the visit itself and, most importantly, what they remember afterwards. We 
need to: 

a) improve the information we and others have about visitors: 
• National Park Visitor Survey is well under way - its not the numbers but the 
information about aspirations and the perceptions that count most 
• We need be much better at collecting, storing and using information about 
visitors and their needs and aspirations for the Park. And then harnessing that 
information to drive management improvements. We need to improve lines of 
communication so that we all know what is going on. 

b) improve the information that we and others make available for visitors: 
• There is already much good practice in the area. We don’t want to standardise 
and stifle. So lets leave the best and improve the rest. 
• But visitor information also needs to be put in Cairngorms frame and the gaps 
in provision need to be filled (e.g. how to find Ranger Services if you want 
them) 
• Sam Ham is likely to return to help with our interpretation strategy in the 
autumn 
• Overall I think we need more of a visible presence that visitors are in a 
National Park and that it an area that is valued and which is being cared for. 

Murray Ferguson 
March 2004