History of Aros Park
Tobermory Isle of Mull

Community Involvement
The Forestry Commission was in the business of planting trees and managing forests. It was when the last Conservative government ordered the Forestry Commission to sell 100,000 hectares (that is 250,000 acres) of land, that the little island of Mull, and in particular Aros Park became an important issue for the Forestry Commission; should they sell? If not, why not - what were the reasons to keep it? There was enormous scope for development and this was realised by two of the forestry managers living in the area, Chris Rider and Kenneth Knott, who was then managing all forestry work on Mull.  To justify their claims, a lot of research was done.
 

· What were the local people’s feelings about the park?
· And what would they like to see?
· The Tobermory Angling club leases two of the lochs – there were the questions of stocking, maintaining and developing.
· The Tobermory Fish Farm – again maintaining and developing.
· The constant need to maintain pathways, roads, car parks, toilets, and not forgetting the constant control or the ever-engulfing Rhododendron Ponticum.
· The thinning and clearing of the mixed woodland, planted around 1825, which consists of mainly of broad-leaved species and specimen conifers such as silver firs and Auracaria species.
· It was being recognised that tourism was a market, which could increasingly be developed.
· The restructuring of the 1930s coniferous plantations of Sitka Spruce.
· The conservation of native woodland, which has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and of special conservation value.  The SSSI is described in the schedule as a “Tertiary Basalt Cliff, clad in a hanging woodland, with plant communities typical of base-rich soils”.
· The potential for much greater community involvement, i.e. the creation of a “Friends of Aros Park” group.
· All of these things needed financial support - where would the money come from.