Latest News - March 2012

We're cheering plans published on Friday to save Peak District green lanes from off-roading damage. The Peak District National Park Authority has committed to work on 27 routes in the National Park, including making repairs on some and consulting on road closures on others. 

This is great news! We’ve been campaigning for the National Park Authority to get on with protecting our most sensitive and damaged lanes, so it’s really heartening that it has listened to local people’s concerns and is putting its money where its mouth is. In particular, the action plan identifies five lanes where it will consult with the public about what it calls “vehicle regulation”:

• Long Causeway at Stanage Edge
• Cherpit Lane at Great Longstone
• The Roych near Chapel-en-le-Frith
• Brough Lane above Bamford
• Brushfield, near Monsal Head

Long Causeway and the Roych are the current top two lanes we’ve been lobbying to save as part of our Take Back the Tracks campaign. Work on these is really urgent because the damage is so terrible, and the landscapes here are particularly environmentally sensitive. However, the action plan does not specify what kind of vehicle regulation the National Park Authority will be consulting on.

The National Park Authority may suggest a number of options including seasonal restrictions or just making lanes one-way. We want bold action – and the most sensitive lanes closed to all recreational vehicles for good! Our precious green lanes need saving properly, and permanently.

Individual route action plans for routes identified as being in most urgent need of improved management are now available on www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/priorityroutes

This is by no means a done deal. If you care about your countryside, please look out for the consultations and have your say.

The consultations are due to start this summer.
 

permalink

One of our brilliant volunteers, Rachel, and her son Bruce, are gearing up for our magnificent fundraising walk…and eating cakes in the Peak District.

Rachel Rennie has volunteered with us for about a year, giving invaluable help with fundraising and events. She grew up in Litton, and has moved back there with her three year old son Bruce. Rachel recently graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in Geography and Town Planning

“I moved to the Peak District when I was five years old and I have loved it ever since. I love the way the landscapes change so dramatically in different weather and seasons. I never take the beauty of this area for granted and I got involved with Friends of the Peak District because I wanted to help protect the Peak District from threats to the countryside and its communities,” she says.

Rachel and Bruce are taking part in our annual Three Cakes Challenge on Sunday 15 April. The three mile route along the Monsal Trail includes three cake stops, and ends with a treasure hunt and chance to explore the gardens of Thornbridge Hall.

“Bruce is a good little walker, so the three mile route should be a doddle for him. He is very excited about finding the treasure at Thornbridge Hall! I’m looking forward to seeing the gardens, and some beautiful scenery, not to mention the cakes!” Rachel adds.

The Three Cakes Challenge is open to people of all ages and abilities, and all money raised will go to our crucial work protecting the local countryside.

“The walk is going to be great fun. Last year, parents and grandparents came along, and the kids all had a great time. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful countryside, so what makes the walk really special is that all the money raised goes towards looking after it for the future.”

TheThree Cakes Challenge is at 11.30 on Sunday 15 April. It starts from Thornbridge Hall, Ashford in the Water. Entry is £6, and free for under 5s. For more information ring 0114 266 5822.

The Three Cakes Challenge is one of three routes that make up Friends of the Peak District’s Magnificent Walk day. There will also be a 21 Mile Challenge and a Magnificent 7 Mile Challenge.
 

permalink

The date for the Public Inquiry to decide the future of Cowdale Quarry near Buxton is 19 June. 

The Planning Inspectorate has extended the date for accepting comments until 26 March 2012.

Express Park Buxton submitted plans to build the five-hectare water bottling factory and distribution site in early 2010 and again in 2011. We fought both applications along with local campaigners, and High Peak Borough Council unanimously rejected them because they would be “unsustainable” and “harmful to character and visual appearance of the countryside and special landscape area.” The Council also had concerns about the impact the building would have on the National Park.

Developers then appealed to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate against High Peak’s decision on the second application.

We hope that the Public Inquiry will give the opportunity for a really thorough examination of the scheme, and that it will get kicked out once and for all!Please have your say about this valuable green space! You’ve got until 26 March to tell the Planning Inspectorate why the appeal should be dismissed. An enormous bottling plant in the middle of beautiful countryside on the edge of the National Park just won’t go!

permalink

There is free training on offer to people interested in the future of their communities in and around the Peak District.

We are running ‘Planning and Localism: How it can work for you’ at Buxton Methodist Church on Thursday 22 March.

The timing of this training couldn’t be better for people who really want to make a difference to their neighbourhood.The Government is bringing in new ways for local people to get involved in planning, but the trouble is that not a lot of people know about what this could mean for them and where they live. The training will look specifically at how people can develop new neighbourhood plans.

Our planning officer John King is running the free, all day session, and says, “These new neighbourhood plans are potentially really important. They are written by the local community for their local community, and will actually carry the same weight as the Local Authority’s Development Plan which means that any new planning applications should comply with it. It is potentially real ‘power to the people’ stuff!”

The training is suitable for town and parish councillors, people working with community groups or anyone interested in planning issues and changing neighbourhoods for the better.

“But it’s not for NIMBYs. It is for people who really want to join in and contribute to finding solutions for their neighbourhoods. People will be able to protect their local playing fields or much-loved green spaces, but they will also need to work out where new developments should go,” John adds.

Planning and Localism: How it can work for you in at 11am – 4pm on Thursday 22 March at Buxton Methodist Hall, Buxton SK17 6HX.

Places are free, including lunch.  To book, please contact Lindsay or ring us on 0114 266 5822.

permalink