Campaigning is the key...

The Friends of the Peak District campaigns both within the statutory planning system and outside of it.

Our volunteers and staff screen every planning application submitted within the Peak District area (ie Peak District National Park, the Derbyshire High Peak and the six parishes of North East Derbyshire (Eckington, Unstone, Holmesfield, Killamarsh, Dronfield, Barlow) and raise the alarm when the countryside is threatened, taking cases on occasion to appeal and public inquiry.

We take part in consultations and influence local and regional plans in favour of the countryside. We publicise important issues through the local press and radio and through our own events and publications. Locally we work with individuals and communities - residents' associations, parish councils and pressure groups - advising on the planning system, on campaigning tactics and attracting publicity.

Sometimes problems can only be resolved by changes in government policy or legislation; that is why we are part of two influential national networks - * Campaign for National Parks (CNP) and the CPRE network. We don't just campaign against damaging developments - we campaign for positive practical alternatives. We campaign for appropriate and well-designed development in the countryside and we work to encourage 'green' farming and land-use policies.

* prior to June 2008 known as Council for National Parks