National Park Boundary
Before the National Park was established in 2003, Scottish Natural Heritage conducted a consultation exercise, considering the boundary and the powers and structure of the new park authority. One option presented for the area included Tomatin, Blair Atholl, Aboyne and Glen Shee, making the park twice as big as the Lake District National Park. The area finally chosen was smaller than expected, but still the largest in Britain. It involved the boundary areas of Carrbridge, Laggan, Dalwhinnie, Grantown-on-Spey and Ballater. Many groups and local communities felt that a large area of highland Perth and Kinross should form part of the park and carried out a sustained campaign.
On 13 March 2008 Michael Russell announced that the National Park would be extended to take in Blair Atholl and Spittal of Glenshee. There was also controversy surrounding the construction of the funicular Cairngorm Mountain Railway on Cairn Gorm, a scheme supported by the new National Park Authority. Supporters of the scheme claimed that it would bring in valuable tourist income, whilst opponents argued that such a development was unsuitable for a protected area. To reduce erosion, the railway operates a "closed scheme" and only allows skiers (in season) out of the upper Ptarmigan station.
On 4 October 2010 the Park extended into Highland Perthshire and Glenshee.
Read more about this topic: Cairngorms National Park
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