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Minute of the First Meeting of the Ranger Service Working Group 
Held in the CNPA Office, Ballater
On 27 February 2004 at 9.00am

Present: 
Eric Baird CNPA Board Member 
Sally Dowden CNPA Board Member 
Willie McKenna CNPA Board Member 
Richard Stroud CNPA Board Member 
Murray Ferguson Head of Visitor Services and Recreation 
In attendance: 
Peter Argyle CNPA Board Member 

Selection of the Chair Action 
1. Murray Ferguson welcomed members to the meeting. Following discussion, Richard 
Stroud was unanimously elected as Chairman and continued to conduct the remainder 
of the meeting. 

Discussion of purpose and short term outputs 
2. Murray Ferguson had previously circulated an extract from a Board paper from 
October 2003 which stated the Purpose and Short-term Outputs of the Working 
Group. 

3. Sally Dowden suggested changing the name of the Working Group to reflect the wide 
variety of services that could be delivered by rangers and others who provided similar 
services for visitors. Following discussion, members agreed that the current name of 
the Group was adequate but that it would be appropriate to consider as part of the 
work programme how ranger services fitted with other services provided to visitors 
and land managers. In time the work of the Group may evolve and a change of name 
could be considered. 

4. The purpose of the Working Group as suggested by the Board was considered. In 
discussion the following points emerged: 
- Members of the Group had a different understanding of the current level of ranger 
service provision and it would be necessary to reach a shared understanding before 
significant progress could be made. The audit that had been undertaken by the 
Cairngorms Rangers Group would be useful as a starting point. 
- SNH had a ranger service policy at a national level with specific aims for rangers 
that applied to each of the Ranger Services that they funded. 
- Some of the ways in which ranger services were currently administered involved a 
considerable amount of paperwork and administration. It would be good if this 
could be reduced or minimised in the future.
- Some valuable information about visitors’ experiences in using ranger services 
was contained in the report of the interim visitor survey which Debbie Strang was 
coordinating. 
- Several annual meetings of ranger services in the Cairngorms had taken place 
since the late 1990s and there may be worthwhile material in the minutes or 
reports of these meetings. 
- Consideration would have to be given to the provision of ranger services across 
the boundary of the National Park. 

5. Murray Ferguson agreed to arrange for circulation of the relevant material in due 
course. Action MF 

6. The Group agreed to change the Purpose of the Working Group slightly to read (new 
words are underlined): 
"To formulate, agree and then implement with partners arrangements for the 
provision of a cohesive Cairngorms National Park-wide approach to ranger 
services which meets the requirements of the Cairngorms National Park 
aims."
 
7. The Short Term Output that had been set by the Board was considered. MF informed 
the Group that, earlier that week, the post of Visitor Services Officer had been offered 
to Peter Crane, who currently worked as Countryside Officer and Country Park 
Manager with Fife Council. It was expected that Peter (who would be leading most of 
the work in relation to ranger services and other visitor services) would start work in 
late April. 

8. It was agreed that the timescale for the statement of short-term outputs required to be 
amended and this should be discussed at the next meeting of the Working Group. The 
statement currently reads: 
"To produce a report to the CNPA Board by [end of April] setting out specific 
proposals for implementation so as to produce a more coordinated and 
harmonised ranger service for the Cairngorms National Park.". 

Consideration of external interests to join the Working Group 
9. A variety of views were expressed about the desirability of involving others in the 
Working Group at this stage. Some members favoured early inclusion of wide range 
of interested parties. Others suggested that the Working Group members should have 
the opportunity to refine their own thinking about the current level of ranger service 
provision and how it was delivered before the Group was opened up to others. 

10. It was agreed that inclusion of external parties would take place in due course once the 
Group had got under way. It was agreed that in inviting others to participate, the 
Working Group should be sensitive the need to liase with ranger service managers in 
the first instance. 


AOCB 
11. No other items of competent business were raised. 

Dates of next meetings 
12. Murray Ferguson reported that he had been advised to chart out as many dates as 
possible to avoid clashes of dates and allow for other Board Members to attend. The 
Group favoured the slot following the Planning Committee meetings ( which are held 
every second Friday) but timed so as not to clash with Access Working Group 
meetings. 

13. Murray Ferguson to arrange a schedule of dates for the remainder of the calendar year 
with the next meeting to take place in around six weeks. MF 
The meeting finished at 10:10