Section 12: National Park Plans: procedure
43.Under subsections (1) and (2), once it has prepared a draft National Park Plan, the National Park authority must send a copy to the local authorities with part of their area in the National Park, who must make it available to the public. The National Park authority must also publicise the draft Plan and consult local authorities, community councils, people representative of those living and working in the Park, and anyone else it sees fit. It must determine the time period (at least 12 weeks) for consultation and for which the draft Plan is to be made available for public inspection.
44.Under subsection (3) the National Park authority must take account of any comments which it receives in this period. Following the consultation, and any resulting amendments, the plan must be submitted to the Scottish Ministers (subsection (4)) who may approve it with or without modification or reject it. They must (under subsection (6)) give reasons for modifying or rejecting the Plan. Subsection (5) provides that where the Scottish Ministers are minded to approve a Plan with modifications, they must send a copy of the intended modifications to the National Park authority, and take account of its comments.
45.Where the plan is approved (subsection (7)), the National Park authority must adopt the Plan, send a copy to the Scottish Ministers and relevant local authorities, make a copy available for inspection, and publicise its existence.
46.If a National Park Plan is rejected (subsection (8)) by the Scottish Ministers, the National Park authority must submit a revised Plan for approval.