A report on the engagement work and the key feedback received during pre-consultation phase

1          This report outlines the engagement work undertaken during the pre-consultation phase of the reporting work and summarises the feedback received.

Overview of engagement work

2          As set out in the reporter plan published on 22 August, the aim of this pre-consultation phase was to raise awareness of the proposal and work with local interests and other stakeholders to design an effective consultation strategy and to develop the draft proposals for consultation. Ten elements of work were undertaken, with progress summarised as follows.

Summary table

Action	Key outputs
Write to all local authorities, community councils and community development organisations in the area proposed in the Bid alerting them of the proposal and seeking meetings with them	Provided briefing to the three local authorities, 52 community councils and 39 community groups across the area. Have met or have plans to meet 15 community councils and organisations
Provide information, such as details of the process, Frequently Asked Questions and updates on progress, on the national park pages of our website. These will be updated throughout the reporting work.	Published monthly updates on our website on key developments.
Provide an online engagement platform from the end of August 2024. This will provide information and also surveys and map-based interaction. Information on forthcoming events will be here too.	5 polls about the proposal were published on the hub in addition to 1 ‘How are we doing survey’. These generated nearly 3000 comments from over 1000 respondents, with over 1200 people subscribing for updates from the hub.
Distribute an introductory, explanatory leaflet to household and business addresses in, and near, the area proposed in the nomination.	Distributed 52,000 leaflets to households and businesses within and close to the indicative area
Hold a series of online and in-person meetings with local, regional and national stakeholders.	Held or inputted to over 50 meetings online and in person with circa 400 people attending
Hold a series of drop-in surgeries across the area and at relevant meetings and events.	Deferred – we decided to progress with the drop-in surgeries as part of the formal consultation where there will be more detail available on what is being proposed.
Connect with the range of businesses operating in the area – farming and forestry, tourism and renewables	Met and provided regular updates to representative bodies including CONFOR, NFUS, Scottish Renewables, SL&E and SSDA. Worked with SOSE and the South of Scotland team to scope and begin to develop a bespoke social, economic and environmental profile of the proposed area
Scope and develop bespoke engagement with young people and under-represented people and groups.	Wrote and provided briefing to over 250 organisations across these sectors and published education resources for schools
Issue press releases and social media content to raise the profile of the work.	We have maintained our social media presence with 17 proactive posts across Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn, as well as responses to direct questions and messages via these platforms. We estimate the total social audience this activity has reached so far to be 68K. We have issued two proactive news releases - 9 September online hub launch, and 1 November consultation launch - reaching 423 media targets in total; we have responded to 20 media enquiries, and we have prepared nine advance media statements. Based on circulation figures, our media activity has reached an estimated audience of 22 million with a printed circulation of 9.75 million.
Provide an email address for queries and aim to respond to them within five working days.	Responded to in excess of 500 emails and letters, mostly but not all within intended timescale.

3          Nine of these actions have been completed or progressed with significant engagement achieved overall in terms of the depth and range of issues raised for this stage of the reporting work. 

4          Not everything has gone as planned though, and we note the following points which we will seek to address during the consultation phase.                                                                                                               

• Relatively few meetings with community councils and organisations were held during the pre-consultation stage.  Some have decided to wait until the formal programme of events during consultation phase. Community council elections have also been a factor. We recognise that the engagement to date has tended to focus more on the Dumfries and Galloway Council area and we will seek to address this during the consultation phase.
• Distribution of the information leaflet by Royal Mail was delayed and though this has now been actioned, it is being reported that distribution has been patchy. We are considering how best to address this for the consultation phase of work.
• The volume of correspondence has meant we have not managed to reply to all of them within the proposed time period.
• We have decided to progress with the drop-in surgeries alongside the planned programme of public consultation meetings which will commence in November where there will be more detail available on what is being proposed.
• We have engaged with a range of business stakeholder groups from the key sectors. We are considering how best to find out in more detail businesses’ views on the proposal. 

5          We consider the aims of this phase of work have been met. It provides a solid foundation for the consultation phase to come. We have summarised the main issues raised about the proposed National Park in Section 3 of the consultation paper. Further detail on the detailed aspects of this work is provided below 

Community Information hub 

6          We launched an online Information Hub, facilitated by Commonplace on the 10 of September 2024.  During the Engagement phase of the Reporting process, this hub was used to:

• Raise awareness about the Scottish Government’s proposal for a new National Park
• Explain the Reporting process that had been initiated and NatureScot’s role as Reporter
• Encourage conversations and listen to initial opinions about the proposal. 

7          At the time of launching the hub, the following information pages were made available:

• Key Information
• Why a National Park in Galloway?
• Scotland’s Existing National Parks
• A live timeline with information about the ongoing stages of the process

An accessible version of the map-based survey was also made available for those using screen readers or otherwise unable to use the map

8          The following surveys were also launched. All responses to these surveys were anonymous:

• What should a National Park do?
• What is special about this area? (An interactive map-based survey)
• How are we doing?

9          Throughout the following weeks we made various changes and additions to the Information Hub based on the conversations that occurred and the feedback received from responses on the hub, emails received and in-person conversations. 

• On the 20 of September, we posted a new page on the hub, entitled ‘The Conversation so far’. The information on this page was based on the feedback received throughout the engagement process so far, to help answer specific questions about the engagement and consultation process. This page also included a survey asking respondents about their preferred way to respond to the formal consultation, to help us ensure that we could support as many people as possible to respond.   
• On the 27 of September we posted a new survey entitled ‘Have Your Voice Heard’. This was in response to some feedback we had received via the hub and email that some members of the public were uncomfortable posting on the hub for fear that they could be identified and / or their point of view would be discussed on social media platforms outwith this information hub. This survey was developed to gain a better insight into how people had been interacting with the hub to date, whether there was anything preventing them from engaging, and to get suggestions on how we could ensure anyone who wants to voice an opinion feels comfortable and able to do so. We also took this opportunity to highlight that anyone who did not feel comfortable using the information hub to express their views could email us directly and their opinions would still be recorded and reported on.
• In response to several requests for a specific survey which allowed respondents to voice their concerns about the impacts of a proposed new National Park, on the 11 of October we published a ‘Key Concerns Survey’. 

10        In early October we started to receive concerns about the tone of some of the conversations happening within and outwith the Information Hub, along with requests to increase moderation of the responses. We responded to this by asking Commonplace to increase the level of moderation applied to responses on the hub, to include removing text that we consider likely to be inflammatory in addition to the existing moderation of omitting personal information and abusive language. 

11        All surveys asking questions about the new National Park proposal were closed on 25 October, and the ‘How are we doing?’ survey was closed on 26 October. This was to enable us to collate and analyse the responses received throughout the Engagement stage prior to the launch of the formal consultation.  A high level summary of the results from these surveys is provided in Annex A.

12        From 10 September to 28 October there were 1046 unique respondents contributing a total of 2951 comments to the various surveys hosted on the information hub.  1237 people also subscribed for email updates. These updates were delivered in the form of weekly ‘news updates’ on common themes that were being raised via the hub, summarising responses so far and highlighting new surveys that had been published. These updates can be accessed on the Latest News section of the Hub. 

Meetings and correspondence with community groups, organisations and stakeholders

13        NatureScot has held a series of meetings and workshops with a range of community groups, organisations and stakeholders, including the following:

• CEMVO    
• Confor                                                                  
• Dumfries and Galloway Council                                      
• East Ayrshire Council
• Forestry and Land Scotland - South Region                         
• Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve                       
• Galloway National Park Association                   
• Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland
• Historic Environment Scotland                            
• Milk Suppliers Association                                   
• National Farmers Union Scotland – Dumfries and Galloway
• No Galloway National Park Campaign
• Scottish and Southern Electric                            
• Scottish Government                               
• Scottish Land & Estates                                      
• Scottish Power Energy Networks                        
• Scottish Power Renewables                                
• Scottish Renewables                                           
• South Ayrshire Council                                        
• South of Scotland Destination Alliance
• South of Scotland Enterprise
• SW Scotland Regenerative Farming Network    
• VisitScotland

In addition, we have discussed the reporting work collectively with a range of national and regional bodies on the national park stakeholder advisory group and the south of Scotland public sector team (comprising staff from Dumfries & Galloway Council, Scottish Borders Council, Skills Development Scotland and Visit Scotland).

 14        The largest meetings so far have been online with Scottish Land and Estates (50 plus), Scottish Renewables (60 plus) and the in person meeting held with the No GNP Campaign (330 plus). We have also met the Girvan (20 plus), Kirkmaiden (40 plus), the Group of 15 Stewary Community Councils; and the MSPs and the MP covering most of the proposed area.

15        We have received well over 500 letters or emails direct to the National Park reporter team. We have had multiple correspondence from a small number of individuals with the most complex inquiry seeking responses to over 60 questions. 

Feedback received

16        This range of engagement has generated a considerable amount of feedback and we are grateful for the time that individuals and organisations have devoted to it. We have used the thoughts and ideas provided to inform the consultation, and our plans for further engagement, during this phase of the reporting work.

17        We have found all the meetings very helpful in providing a clear insight into the views of those living, working or otherwise involved in future of the region. NFUS, SL&E, CONFOR and SSDA have also polled their members providing insight into support or opposition to the principle of the Park and also initial views on its potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We recognise the strength of feeling and concerns that many have with the proposal in principle, and we will report this to Scottish Ministers.  We are also keen to hear during the consultation from people and organisations who want more detailed information before they make up their mind.

18        In addition, a range of issues has also been raised about the process. We summarise the main points and our response to them in the table below:

Summary of main points and responses

Issue	NatureScot response
How will NatureScot analyse the responses? Will there be weighting for sectors seen as being potentially more affected?	We will report on all views expressed to us during the consultation and will publish this analysis alongside our advice. The number of responses on a specific consultation issue is only one factor we will need to consider. Scottish Ministers have specifically asked us to give special attention to local circumstances and the views of local communities and businesses, including renewable energy, agriculture and forestry and the information sought on the location and type of respondent across the surveys will allow us to do this.
Lack of information or detail in the pre-consultation phase has make it difficult to comment and adds to uncertainty.	We understand these concerns and hope the formal consultation will provide more of the detail sought. The designation process for National Parks has been designed to be iterative and involves three statutory stages of engagement and consultation through the which definitive proposals that are tailored to address local issues and concerns are developed.
There should be a Yes/No referendum on the proposal	We have included in the consultation surveys a question on the principle of establishing a Galloway National Park which will allow us to gauge support or opposition to a National Park.  We will also report to Scottish Ministers on all the views expressed on a referendum as part of our advice.
How will businesses and larger employers be consulted?	Any business can respond via the surveys or in writing. We are planning with representative bodies a number of sector specific meetings including NFUS, SL&E, Scottish Renewables and SSDA. Further suggestions for more bespoke engagement would be welcome.
Young people are not being consulted properly.	We have prepared an educational resource pack and are engaging with schools and a range of youth organisations where they wish to do so. Further suggestions for more bespoke engagement would be welcome.
Older people are not being consulted properly.	We have met with and provided briefing for the health care alliance and have also prepared accessible version of the summary version of the leaflet with RNIB.  Further suggestions for more bespoke engagement would be welcome.
Consultation period needs to be extended given it runs over the winter holidays	In response to this issue, the consultation period has been extended by two weeks to 14th February 2024.
Timing is an issue as winter is foresters’ busiest time.	In response to these issues, the consultation period has been extended by two weeks to 14th February 2024.
It is both a local and national consultation	The programme of public consultation events being independently facilitated by Outside the Box will include over 26 in-person events across the area as well as four online events which anyone can attend. We have promoted the launch of the consultation in the local and national media and are writing to a range of local and national organisations to encourage all to respond to the consultation.
Concerns that it is a done deal because it was in the programme for government.	Scottish Ministers have consistently said that no decision to proceed with designation has been made and they will await NatureScot’s advice on this proposal before considering whether to proceed or not.
The perceived bias of NatureScot (being in favour of new parks, not being independent enough)	We are committed to undertaking the reporting work in as an inclusive, transparent and participatory manner as possible. In response to this issue being raised, we have taken particular care to address this perception in all our Reporter work.  In providing our advice to Ministers, we will also clearly differentiate between our advice as the Reporter and any advice we may want to provide separately as the national nature agency. We are on the record as being favour in principle of the designation of more National Parks but only where the proposed area meets the legislative conditions for Park status and there is sufficient local support for it be a success.  We will only come to a view on these issues once we have analysed the consultation responses and developed our advice to Ministers.

19        As the pre-consultation phase went on, a number of concerns were raised over the confrontational nature of some of the local meetings and social media activity which were putting some people off contributing to the discussions. We have taken the steps we can do to address this as part of our moderation of the information hub, in our press statements and through the planning of the programme of events during the consultation period. 

NatureScot
December 2024