Engaging young people in planning

Kilmaronock Millennium Hall, Gartocharn, June 2007

In June 2007, schools and youth groups participated in events organised in collaboration between the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority, to identify aspirations and fears relating to landscape change. The outputs were to inform the creation of an issues list for the National Park's Development Plan. The venue was the Kilmaronock Millennium Hall in Gartocharn.

Participants were first introduced to the area around their school or the area in which they live, identifying their school, house or other local features on aerial photographs or satellite imagery.

The Virtual Landscape Theatre was first used to introduce children to The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, raising awareness of the geography and landforms of west central Scotland, the extent of the National Park.

The findings included a desire for constraining housing developments such that they are in keeping with the character of the villages in the National Park. There was also a belief that there is sufficient woodland in the southern area of the Park, particularly around the edges of the lochs, and that there should be no developments of renewable energy within the park boundary. Some scope for wind energy development were identified in moorland areas to the east of Loch Lomond, and for considering smallscale energy generation for local consumption.

Notable amongst the discussions was a difference in view between those who live within the Park and those living outside on the provision of shops. There was a clear desire amongst Park inhabitants for retailers of sports clothes and good quality fast food. Those living outside the park felt that there was sufficient provision in places such as nearby Balloch.

The development of recreation and tourist facilities was also identified, exploiting the natural resources of Loch Lomond. The worked-up examples included the greater use of specific islands in the loch as focal points for such development and the siting of new car parking and ferry infrastructure in the south-west shores of the loch.

Thank you to the following schools and youth groups who participated in the event:

• Clydebank High
• Dumbarton Academy
• Gartocharn Cubs
• Luss Primary School
• Vale of Leven Academy