A Glenkens grassroots group has complained a big forestry scheme on its doorstep was given the green light without adequate consultation.
Dalry Community Council hoped to have a role in shaping the plantation on moorland at Duchrae near Lochinvar.
But members were disappointed to learn this week that the proposed forest, which is mostly Sitka spruce, had been approved unamended.
The bid, underpinned by public cash through the Forestry Grants Scheme, is the latest in a string of similar applications in Galloway to get the go-ahead.
The community council has written to Scottish Forestry to complain and members will meet on Monday to decide whether to lodge an objection on how the bid was progressed.
Spokeswoman Morag Paterson told the News: “We want to be proactive, not confrontational.
“But cases like this just go to show why we need to improve the consultation process of large-scale woodland creation – and the system itself.
“We really have to change the way we are doing this.
“The current Forestry Grant Scheme requirements for community participation and engagement appear at present to be entirely arbitrary and therefore open to interpretation by agents.
“More often than not they tell us ‘here’s what we want to do, now tell us your concerns and then we will either decide to mitigate them or we wont.
“We have no further recourse after that.”
Ms Paterson added: “What we need are much stronger and mandatory engagement requirements – not the current tick box exercise.
“All that does is ask if we have concerns and complaints with no further community role specified.
“This entirely misses the opportunity which well-designed multi-functional forests that work for locals as well as big business, present.
“We simply would like to see woodland creation schemes treated as an opportunity for community participation.
“But right now there is no right of appeal.”
In its letter to Scottish Forestry, the community council complained with regard to Duchrae that insufficient engagement had taken place.
It states: “If the reality is that these guidelines are open to interpretation by applicants (and Scottish Forestry) rather than being acknowledged as best practise, we feel the guidelines need to be changed to make expectations clear to everyone involved.
Under the Scottish Government’s Forestry Strategy 2019-2029 framework, one of the “priority areas” is “engaging more people, communities and businesses in the creation, management and use of forests and woodland”.
A spokesperson for Scottish Forestry, the Holyrood Government’s forestry agency, said: “During the formation of the Duchrae woodland creation proposal there was a change of forestry agents part way through the application process, and of course this is never ideal.
“However, to help with this, we gave more time to allow comments and feedback when the proposal was placed on the public register for consultation.
“A site visit was also arranged with the forestry agents and community council.
“This feedback, and other exchanges, resulted in a number of changes to the original proposal.
“We subsequently took the view that the woodland creation proposal meets the requirements needed.”
