More than 300 locals gathered in Gatehouse of Fleet on Tuesday night to challenge the Scottish Government’s proposed new national park in Galloway.

The inaugural meeting heard dozens of residents speak out against the plans, with concerns raised over housing, costs, infrastructure, and planning.

Attending the meeting was Ian McConchie, who worked at Laggan Farm for most of his 80 years. He said: “It was an excellent, jam-packed meeting, and it is fair to say only one person at the meeting believed the park was a good idea.

“We are all worried that this will be another layer of bureaucracy, with planning controls taken away from the council. And we fear the whole thing will cost a lot of money.

“It would be far better using that money to improve the A75 or save the local community hospitals which are under threat.

“We have a big problem in the area with businesses being unable to get staff and have places for them to live.

“A national park would see a huge increase in tourism and people coming for holidays, and we’d end up with an even bigger demand for staff, compounding the issue.”

Colin Ferguson former Dumfries and Galloway chaired the meeting. He said: “It was great to see the people there, and it was well beyond the range of people who have attended the previous farmer meetings we have held.

“It was a real community meeting. I would say most attendees were against it, but to varying levels. Some were resolutely against it in all forms, while others were more undecided and wanted more information. There was a general feeling that locals had not been listened to and the consultation was a ‘tick-box exercise’.”

Local resident Denise Brownlee, who helped to organise the meeting, said a national park could push house prices up beyond the means of many local residents.

Ms Brownlee had previously worked at the Trossachs National Park as a ranger.

There is also a move by residents to set up a referendum on the proposed new national park for all those who live within the proposed boundaries.

Furthermore, there is a demand for an independent investigation into the proposal, which is not conducted by NatureScot or the Scottish Government.

In response to the concerns, the Scottish Government has promised a thorough investigation into the area’s suitability before it becomes Scotland’s third national park after the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.

The area was selected as the preferred site from a five-strong shortlist following a lengthy review of criteria. If given the designation, it would be the first national park in the UK in about 15 years.

The Scottish Government believes that the campaign to secure the status for the park is ‘community-led’ and that if created, it will help fix the ‘nature and climate crisis’.

People in favour of the park believe it could bring ‘transformational economic and environmental benefits’ to the area.

The next step is for an official report to be produced by NatureScot for the Scottish Parliament for review in April 2025, after which ministers will make the final decision on whether a new national park will be created or not.