National Park Dictatorships.
At a time when our troops are fighting for the fundamental freedom of
democracy in various parts of the world, one would think that such
freedoms would be paramount in our own country.
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms as amended by Protocol No. 11 with Protocol Nos. 1, 4, 6, 7,
12 and 13, Article 3 "Right to free elections" states; "The High
Contracting Parties undertake to hold free elections at reasonable
intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the
free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the
legislature".
Residents in Scotland voted in the local government elections held on
Thursday, 3 May 2007 for their choice of councillors to be appointed
to represent their interests.
However, in the National Parks the situation is very different. A
significant amount of local government control has been handed to
mainly un-elected appointees from interest groups who are more
concerned about shaping the parks to suit themselves than representing
those who live there.. Effectively, those of us who live in National
Parks in Scotland do not have the same level of local government
democracy as elsewhere in the country.
It appears that the Scottish Executive's excuse is that Loch Lomond
and the Cairngorms are "national assets" but they are much less so
than Glasgow or Edinburgh where if local government powers were
diluted to interest groups there would be an outcry.
Why should we who live in the Nationals Parks be subjected to
interest-led dictatorships, whilst those in the rest of the country
enjoy the right to freely elect their local government decision
makers?
It seems human rights don't apply to National Park residents.
Angus Macmillan
www.roots-of-blood.org.uk
www.killhunting.org
www.con-servation.org.uk
All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed;
Second, it is violently opposed; and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.
-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)