Latest News - July 2010
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Jul 28th 2010 High Peak housing targets
We're urging High Peak Borough Council to think again about plans to build thousands of new houses in much-loved local landscapes. High Peak is in the process of updating its Core Strategy – the main planning policy that sets out an overall vision for the future of the borough. The strategy includes proposals for 6,000 houses mainly concentrated in and around Glossop, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton.
We welcome the fact that the Core Strategy recognises the importance of conserving the environment. High Peak is close to the Peak District National Park, and its own landscapes are also attractive in their own right. But because it is sandwiched between the National Park and Greater Manchester, there’s a lot of pressure to build new houses for commuters and people from outside the area. We’re fully behind the need for a small number of new, affordable houses for local people, but only 20 – 30% of these targets are for affordable homes.
Recent government changes to the planning system mean that local councils are no longer tied to regional housing targets, and can now decide on numbers for themselves. So we say that this is a great opportunity for High Peak to get their housing numbers right for the countryside. They should go back to the drawing board, and do an up-to-date housing needs survey. Then they can work out how many people locally need houses and plan to just build this number.
To find out more, contact John King.
Jul 5th 2010 Good first hydro meeting
We organised a successful consultation event about forming a new Peak Hydro Forum on 3 July. It was well attended by a mix of site-owners and managers plus other groups interested in things like ecology, sustainability and archaeology.
There was plenty of enthusiasm for forming a Peak District wide forum to help promote good practice in micro hydro and encourage more schemes to be developed. We'll be arranging a follow up meeting shortly to look at the aims, structure and status of the forum.
We're working jointly with Sustainable Bakewell, and if you want to get involved please contact Andy Tickle or fill in an initial survey at www.peakhf.org.uk
We'll also be holding some workshops about micro hydro in the autumn to spread the word, so watch this space...
