Borders national park battle begins

Campaigners have launched a plan to turn part of the Scottish Borders into a national park.

Scotland currently has two - in the Cairngorms and at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.

Proposals to create a third in the south of Scotland are still at an early stage.

However, initial suggestions are for a park that stretches from Melrose down to the Scotland-England border, with Jedburgh at its heart.

Jane Bower, who is from the campaign, said the area was perfectly suited for the status.

She said: "On the one hand it has all the perfect characteristics for a national park - great cultural heritage, marvellous landscapes, wonderful things to visit for tourists and things to do.

"And on the other hand it has got severe socio-economic problems - local incomes are declining, people are leaving, there are no good jobs for young people here.

"A national park would bring in visitors, would bring in more people to live here."

However, there are concerns about the impact national park regulations might have on homeowners and business.

Planning consultant in the Borders, Tim Fergusson, said it could have an effect.

"It would have a fair impact on domestic and commercial type development in terms of it will be adding an extra level of detail in terms of the quality of the build that would be required," he said.

"It would also probably remove permitted development so people wanting to extend their homes maybe would have to go back into planning for that whereas at the moment they may not need planning permission for certain aspects.

"It is trying to get to an understanding of the extra level of detail that developers will have to go through because we don't want to discourage things from an investment point of view."

James Mayhew from the Scottish National Parks Strategy Project said that as well as the Borders, other national parks could be created in Galloway, Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, Glen Affric, Wester Ross, the island of Harris and a coastal marine park in Argyll and Bute.

He claimed the level of expenditure required was justified.

"In Finland, for example, for every one euro that you spend on a national park you generate 10 euros in additional income and investment into that area," he said.

"There would be a cost but we think it would be a cost well worth paying."

However, any national park project would require Scottish government approval.

It has said that any new parks would incur significant costs and that at a time of pressure on public finances it would not be right to raise expectations.

It said that instead it would focus on existing parks to "continue their track record of success".