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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK LIVING AND WORKING IN THE PARK ADVISORY FORUM Draft Minute of Meeting. 22/05/08 CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK LIVING & WORKING IN THE PARK ADVISORY FORUM Draft Minute of Meeting 22 May 2008 12-3pm The Lecht Ski Centre PRESENT: Andrew Martin Robert Gordon University Bradley Carroll B&S Learning Disability Network facilitator Bell Macaulay ACC Leslie Allan Aberdeenshire Council Neil Cameron Tullochs Neil Prentice Angus Council Pierre Masson Moray Council Peter Argyle Chair, Aberdeenshire Councillor Willie Fergusson LANTRA Mags Duncan-Stirling Highland Council Rachel Dilley Macaulay Institute Anne McLean CNPA Board Ross Watson CNPA Board Andrew Harper CNPA Gavin Miles CNPA Hamish Trench CNPA APOLOGIES: Brian Masson Chris Hewitt NTS Mar Lodge Duncan MacKellar CCC Ivor Souter Johnnie Grant Rothiemurchus Estate Judith Aylett Marr Area Partnership Lucy Grant CNPA Board Scott Armstrong Visit Scotland Tim Walker Sport Scotland Welcome Peter Argyle welcomed everyone to the meeting. Gavin Miles described that the purpose of the Advisory Forums was to provide feedback and advice on the delivery of the Cairngorms National Park Plan. For this advisory forum, it was to provide that PAGE 2 feedback from the perspective of living and working in the Park. Gavin also explained the roles of the CNPA staff who would always attend the advisory forum meetings: • Gavin Miles, Strategic Planning & Policy Officer, providing the secretariat and support for all the advisory forums and an overview of the National Park Plan process; • Andrew Harper, Head of Economic & Social Development Team, providing the Living and Working Advisory Forum with a link to the CNPA management team and to the National Park Plan Priority for Action delivery teams. Minutes of last meeting The minutes of the last meeting were agreed. National Park Plan Implementation Progress, Paper 1 Gavin Miles introduced Paper 1 on progress with implementation of the National Park Plan. The CNPA was seeking the views of the Advisory Forum on whether: • significant progress with delivery was being made • the information provided demonstrates progress • there are any priorities for action where progress is not being made or is less obvious The general view of the forum was that progress was being made across all priorities for action. National Park Plan Monitoring Framework, Paper 2 Gavin Miles introduced Paper 2 on the National Park Plan monitoring framework. The CNPA was seeking the Advisory Forum’s comment on the set of indicators for the priority for action 5-year outcomes. The following points were raised: Under “Making Tourism & Business more Sustainable” • indicators covering “the proportion of economic activity based on the special qualities of the Park” were not sufficient; • A better indicator to show that the total employment by sector may be new entrants to sectors; • CNP Brand awareness may also be an important indicator; • There was some concern about the representativeness of surveys carried out through community councils or community PAGE 3 organisations, and a suggestion that residents’ surveys might provide more reliable information. • The difficulty of ensuring all sections of the community provided feedback was noted. • The point was made that the proposed indicators tend to focus on quantitative information, while qualitative information can be just as important. • The suggestion of focussing on quality of life was made, along with the observation that if people’s expectations rise, then improvements may seem harder to achieve. Under “Making Housing More Affordable and Sustainable” • The point that Communities Scotland no longer existed was made along with the changed role of the new organisation and it was pointed out that RSLs have no links to private affordable rented accommodation. • There was recognition that economic conditions were changing and already affecting the housing market and house-building industry. This, combined with reduced public funding, environmental constraints and the drive to improve the sustainability of housing was going to make achieving targets harder than originally thought. Under “Raising Awareness and Understanding” • There was a suggestion that the use of questionnaires for target groups would usefully supplement the indicator based on John Muir Awards. A general point about the trying to make the targets for indicators SMART was made. The Strategic Review of National Parks, Paper 3 Gavin Miles updated the Advisory Forum on the strategic review of National Parks and promised to provide more feedback for the next meeting. Update/Discussion Cairngorms Leader and SRDP, Paper 4 Andrew Harper introduced Paper 4 on the Cairngorms Leader and Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). PAGE 4 There were some general comments about the SRDP process in particular, with concern about the ability of some land managers or community groups to access and complete online application forms. A point was made that publicising the successes in the CNPA for both SRDP and Leader could help to increase interest in applications. The scope for increasing innovative awareness raising solutions and improving knowledge transfer opportunities was raised and the observation made that the best projects are often not those that are simply seeking money. Proposals to maintain effectiveness of Advisory Forums Gavin Miles explained that the CNPA wanted the Advisory Forum to continue to be effective. The forum had a contact list of around 100 people, of whom around 20 actually respond to the invitations and messages. Gavin proposed that the CNPA stopped sending invitations to the contacts who did not respond, and looked to invite new members who could contribute more actively. Gavin confirmed that the CNPA did not want to be the only partner seeking advice or bringing forward items for the agenda. This approach was agreed, and the forum made a number of comments on how meetings could be made more interesting, useful and stimulating: • Having themed sessions/workshops/focus groups on particular topics • Taking a full day and using part of the day to visit a site or case study that would help inform the members and provide interesting talking point • Looking at experience/practice from other National Parks • Inviting agenda items from forum members The possibility of inviting a member of the youth forum to attend the advisory forum was suggested. AOCB None Date and place of next meeting Early October 2008 was suggested by the CNPA. The timing of October school holidays prevented a preferred date from being PAGE 5 selected so it was agreed that the CNPA would confirm a date with the Chair.