Having sustainable, active, informed and empowered communities is key to our work as a National Park Authority.
The Scottish Government has taken steps to ensure that communities in Scotland have more rights over decision making, service delivery and the management of local assets. For more information see Community empowerment – gov.scot.
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 provides a legal framework for some of these rights. As a public authority, the National Park Authority is required to comply with the Act.
A Review of the Community Empowerment Act is currently being carried out by Scottish Government, to explore if the legislation is doing what it set out to do and if any changes are required. The review will have a particular focus on community ownership and strengthening decision-making to improve outcomes for the local community.”
What rights do community groups have within the National Park?
The key provisions of the Act are:
- Community Planning – public bodies have duties to collaborate and involve communities in the delivery of services. Community planning provides a space in which public services, communities, businesses and the third sector can work in partnership to enhance local decision making and improve outcomes, with a particular focus on reducing inequalities.
- Participation Requests – community groups may enter into dialogue with the National Park Authority about local issues and local services. The Act states that a community participation body may make a request to a public service authority to permit the body to participate in an outcome improvement process. The intention of the Act is to enable the active participation of communities in addressing the issues and opportunities which are of greatest importance to them.
- Community Right-to-Buy – in 2024 the Scottish Government published Guidance on ‘Community Rights to Buy’ – the legal powers for communities across Scotland to acquire land. The guidance summarises each of the four ‘right to buy’ powers and also acts as the single source and portal to all resources for each of the rights to buy.
How can my community group work with the National Park Authority?
You can get in touch using the contact details below and we will offer informal advice.
Like other public bodies, there’s already a range of ways to get involved in the work we do and we would encourage you to consider these first. Examples include getting involved with our Local Development Plan, consider preparing a Local Place Plan or talk to us about the priorities in our National Park Partnership Plan 2024-29 .
If you are unsure of what opportunities there are or how these new requirements work, independent support is also available from the Community Ownership Support Service website (for Asset Transfers) or Scottish Community Development Centre website (for Participation Requests).
Asset Transfer
Community organisations have a right to request to take over publicly-owned land or buildings that they feel they can make better use of for their communities. These community empowerment rights apply to all land and buildings managed by the National Park Authority.
If your community is considering making an Asset Transfer Request please review the Government’s Asset Transfer guidance to understand the process that must be taken and to ensure your community organisation can meet the requirements.
Current Asset Transfer Requests
All Asset Transfer Requests must be conducted transparently with opportunities for public consultation. Here you can read about recent applications and find out how to submit your comments for consideration.
Requests for ownership of land and buildings:
- In September 2024 an asset transfer request was made by Luss and Arden Community Development Trust to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority under Part 5 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. The Request is for transfer of ownership of the Former Luss Visitor Centre, Luss. The documents relating to this request and how the public can make representations can be viewed online at https://eplanning.lochlomond-trossachs.org/OnlinePlanning/ using reference number ATR/2024/001 or at National Park Headquarters at Carrochan, 20 Carrochan Road, Balloch, G83 8EG between the hours of 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday – Friday.
Requests for lease of land and buildings:
Requests to manage land and buildings:
Participation Requests
Part 3 of the Community Empowerment Act 2015 enables communities to request to participate in decisions and processes which are aimed at improving outcomes. Please read The Participation Request (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and the participation request guidance (2017) for both public service authorities and community bodies to use.
Current Participation Requests:
Contact
If you have an enquiry or request, please get in touch with the Communities team by calling 01389 722612 or emailing communityempowerment@lochlomond-trossachs.org.
Our Community Empowerment annual reports
We are required to report to Scottish Government annually to confirm whether we have received any Asset Transfer Requests or Participation Requests. You will find links to the annual reports we have submitted to Scottish Government below:
- Asset Transfer Requests for 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 , 2020/21, 2021/22 , 2022/23 and 2023/24.
- Participation Requests for 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.
