New national park for Scotland 'would cost Galloway £500m' by stopping onshore wind farms

Scottish Government plans to create a new national park in Galloway could cost the area more than £500 million by 2035, a new report has warned.

A study concluded that if the proposed new Galloway national park was to have a planning regime similar to the country’s two existing national parks, “the region could experience a cumulative loss of around £543 million GVA [gross value added] by 2035”.

Plans to create a national park in Galloway have proved controversial | Getty Images

If Scotland’s third national park is established there, the report – produced by BiGGAR Economics for Scottish Renewables – said it would “almost certainly reduce deployment of onshore farms in south-west Scotland by making it more difficult for developers to secure planning permission for developments near the park”.

The report said designating a national park in the area could “affect the deployment of onshore wind in the region”, with this in turn having an impact on economic activity in the area.

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The report said, if the proposed national park in Galloway adopted a similar planning regime to existing parks in the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond & the Trossachs, “the region could experience a cumulative loss of around £543m GVA by 2035, around 470 fewer jobs/year might be supported at the peak of activity, and the region could miss out on around £64m in community benefit funding”.

It comes as projections from the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero indicate Dumfries and Galloway could generate up to 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of energy from onshore wind by 2035 – with projects having the potential to support up to 624 jobs annually at the peak of activity, while community benefit payments to the area could amount to £146m by 2035.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government’s onshore wind policy aims to achieve 20GW of capacity by 2030 as part of efforts to boost renewable electricity and move away from fossil fuels.

In light of that, Scottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack said: “The proposal to designate a new national park in Dumfries and Galloway must be weighed carefully against the significant economic and environmental contributions of renewable energy projects currently in development.”

She added: “Research by BiGGAR Economics shows that blocking onshore wind developments alone could lead to fewer jobs, lower investment, and lost opportunities for communities.”

Ms Mack continued: “That’s just part of the picture – the study didn’t include the impact of losing solar, battery storage or transmission projects, which would make the economic hit even worse.

“A national park designation should not come at the cost of clean energy, green jobs, and vital infrastructure. Any decision must consider what local communities stand to lose, not just what they might gain.”

Opposition in some quarters to creating a national park in Galloway has been intense.

Landowner membership organisation Scottish Land & Estates and the National Farmers Union Scotland last year published results of surveys, which showed those against Galloway receiving national park status were in the majority.

Rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon in November last year rejected a suggestion to hold a referendum on the decision.