Council backs Galloway national park local referendum call

One of the protesters outside the council, Tammie Kirk, said many people felt the consultation was not giving people the chance to have their say and a referendum would be fairer.

“When I first heard about this, if I am very honest, my instinct was to want to support it,” she said.

“I went to one of the Galloway National Park Association (GNPA) meetings in Kirkcudbright much earlier in the year and they made it sound like this fantastic thing and I thought wow this could be great.”

However, after doing her own research she said the reality felt “very, very different”.

“House prices definitely escalate a lot, average wages don’t increase in comparison so what happens is local people get priced out,” she said.

“Businesses then start struggling to get staff because people can’t afford to live where they are working.

“For me, although there may be some benefits to becoming a national park, if it prices local people out of the area any benefits become irrelevant because it destroys the community.”