Scottish Borders Council dismisses 'half-baked' national park bid

Scottish Borders Council was told the bid for the region was "incoherent"

Scottish Borders Council has turned its back on a bid for a national park in the region.

One councillor dismissed the proposals as "half-baked" and "incoherent".

Campaigners had hoped to convince the council to support their plans but the local authority voted overwhelmingly not to support the scheme.

The Scottish government has pledged to create at least one more national park by the end of this parliamentary session in 2026.

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The Local Democracy Reporting Service said David Parker, who represents Leaderdale and Melrose, was highly critical of the Borders bid.

"This has been a half-baked proposal since its inception," he said.

"We have had seven years for the campaign group to set out why we should have a Borders National Park and they have consistently failed to to do that.

"In fact is this is not a Scottish Borders National Park, it's a bit of Roxburgh National Park, with most of the Borders not included in it."

Hawick and Hermitage ward councillor Annette Smart put forward an unsuccessful motion opposing the recommendation of officers, calling on members to take no action until a "more informed decision" could be made.

At present there are two national parks - the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs - but the nominations process has opened to increase that number.

Jedburgh is at the centre of the proposed national park in the Borders

Campaigners said they had been working on the bid for seven years and the decision not to support it had been a "bolt from the blue".

Malcolm Dickson, spokesman for the Campaign for a Scottish Borders National Park (CSBNP), said that despite the council rejection it did not mean it was the end of the road for the plans.

"Although in the past the Scottish government has said it would not support any proposal not supported by the relevant local authority, they no longer say that," he said.

The group has also been critical of suggestions of combining its bid with one for Galloway describing that as a "grand scheme" which had not - unlike their own - been "fully worked out in detail".

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