New national coastal park would be biggest in UK

PLANS are being drawn up for Britain’s biggest national park covering a vast coastal area off the West of Scotland.

It would cover 2,650 square miles, stretching from the islands of Tiree and Coll to the west Kintyre coast, taking in Mull and Jura.

Argyll and Bute Council is hoping the move – provisionally called Argyll and Islands National Park – will boost jobs, investment, international recognition and increase tourism, while generating a focus on conservation management. The scale would dwarf that of Scotland’s two other national parks, Loch Lomond and The Cairngorms. The latter is the largest in Britain, covering 1,748 square miles.

John Mayhew, manager of Scotland National Parks Strategy Project, said: ‘We’ve been campaigning for four years. Having a national park would look after our beautiful landscapes. It would encourage tourists to visit and spend money and it would create jobs for people in maintaining the park.’

Council bosses insist its creation ‘should not in any way jeopardise our indigenous local industries of fishing, agriculture, aquaculture and tourism’.

In a document outlining their plans, they proposed lobbying the Scottish Government to create the park.

An Argyll and Bute Council spokesman said the plans represented a public consultation on what the future of the area should hold. He added: ‘The questions relating to a potential national park seek views on whether the council should, or should not, actively explore the potential for a national park in the future.’

Campaigners have pushed for seven new national parks in Scotland, covering areas such as Galloway, Harris and Ben Nevis.

But the Scottish Government has raised funding concerns, with the estimated cost of creating one park around £7million.