Our Diamond Jubilee Year in 2011 was busy, memorable and gave us pause for thought. There were many highlights and we have written about these at www.jimdixon.wordpress.com .
For 2012, there will be many challenges, as we adapt to further budget cuts, and some great opportunities too. This ‘Olympic’ year will be a terrific opportunity to tell the world about the glories of the Peak District and about the opportunities it gives the outdoor enthusiast. It will also be a year in which we work ever more closely with farmers, businesses and the people who live in the National Park.
The highlight of 2012 will be the approval and launch of the new National Park Management Plan. This marks a new stage in the excellent partnership working on which so many of our achievements rest. Behind the new plan there are many committed individuals and organisations who have played a key role in preparing it and on whose shoulders sits its success. We especially look forward to appointing an independent chair to lead the new advisory group.
Conservation work continues to be at the core of what we do and this year marks a sea-change in the way that our environment is managed in the Peak District. There is a great energy behind new partnerships and organisations in the voluntary sector stepping up to the challenges of the new ‘bigger, better and more connected’ agenda.
From the Eastern Moors Partnership we will see the further development of an integrated approach to land management, bringing together a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector managers covering a huge area of the Eastern side of the National Park.
We hope the Nature Improvement Area bid from the National Trust and RSPB is successful.
We look forward to being able to make a decision, probably in 2013 with a lot of work to do in 2012, on the future management of the North Lees Estate – one of the most important property decisions we have ever taken. We wish the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust well as we transfer the Roaches Estate into their careful stewardship.
Across our landscape we are facing up to big conservation challenges: we are starting to address the issues of low flows in our rivers in an emerging partnership; we will redouble our efforts to stem the decline of our farmland waders and will work with all sides to help raptor populations on shooting estates; and we will put more effort into the conservation of meadows, grasslands and dales where we can.
Moors for the Future continues to make progress on the largest moorland restoration programme ever inEurope.
Farmers in the National Park will continue to get good prices at market but will have to pay high fuel and feed prices. We hope that farmers will continue to take part in the environmental schemes which are important to our rural economy. We will continue to work with farmers, managing wildlife and landscape, as they diversify business and reduce their carbon footprint. In 2012 we will do more to celebrate the wonderful work that farmers do in the National Park.
Our planners will deal with some of the largest development schemes ever in the Peak District. In the first few months of 2012 we will look at National Grid’s proposals for the future of the high voltage transmission wires in theLongdendaleValleyin what will be a test case for all National Parks. The major redevelopment of the Hartington Cheese factory site will be considered with huge implications for this important village.
And we expect to see real progress too with our updated guidance on renewable energy and the detailed Development Management policies.
We continue to see the fruits of our work on climate change. Later in 2012 Chatsworth House will become carbon neutral with the installation of a major new woodfuel boiler as a result of the Estate working with the Authority’s planners; in January, Planning Committee will look at the largest wind turbine ever considered in a National Park; later in the year, we will also be making decisions on importing raw materials into the Hope Cement Works which could cuts its carbon footprint by 20%; and we start work on a £250 000 carbon reduction plan leading to a further 30% reduction in our own carbon emissions.
For those who can no longer afford a holiday overseas, the attractions of the Peak District offer a great value alternative. We predict that those in tourism businesses who offer value for money and quality will prosper, especially in this Olympic year.
The eyes of the world will be on London this year and the tourism industry across the country is working hard to capitalise on this. It’s good for the Peak District that its tourism organisations are at the front of the queue and it’s good for the National Park that this year we are helping chart a long-term strategy for tourism in the Peak District. We look forward to welcoming the Olympic Torch to Bakewell in June and especially we hope to use 2012 to promote greater uptake of cycling on theUK’s best traffic-free network of trails – this would be a true legacy for this Olympic year.
With new resources and a new policy for managing green lanes, we look forward to some important decisions on some key routes. We also look forward to strengthening our working relationship with everyone who uses these. We hope that in 2012 that there will be a greater understanding and acceptance by all, of access by legal right on some routes. And also the restrictions that are needed where we think it’s right to introduce them on conservation grounds.
Both of us are passionate about helping people from a variety of backgrounds experience the Peak District. There will be many lives changed for the better as people join our ranger guided walks; on organised school and community youth visits to the National Park; and through the great outreach work we and our partners do in the cities that surround us.
We particularly look forward to Losehill Hall re-opening its doors in February under the new Youth Hostels Association management and our educational partnership with them.
In 2012 economic pressures facing everyone will impact on the Peak District. Falling household incomes mean less luxury spending and for many families and businesses in our rural area it will be tough times.
We are committed to working with the new Business Peak District partnership and our local authority partners to help every Peak District business grow and prosper in ways that are right for our special area.
We especially hope that our commitment of support to a new Rural Business Adviser will be matched by support from the Government. Defra Secretary Caroline Spelman MP has created the opportunity for rural areas to show what they can do to help the economy and the Peak District stands ready to show her and other Ministers in the Government that we can make a positive difference to the Peak District economy.
One of the greatest pleasures we both have is working with the warm and enthusiastic communities in the Peak District. There is an emerging sense of togetherness and optimism about the work we and others are doing with the traders and Town Council in Bakewell. We hope this prospers in 2012.
Later in the year we will re-launch our new integrated grant scheme and this will give us further opportunities to help the innovative and dynamic community groups in towns and villages. And we will continue to make sure that our staff and members work closely with communities in all that they do.
Planning often colours the relationship between people who live here and the Authority. This can often lead to understanding and consensus and sometimes to disagreements. Our new planning policy framework will make our decision-making clearer and we promise to make further strides in ensuring everyone who uses the service gets the quality of response they want.
We shall be opening up the service we give to the public in all areas of our work to external scrutiny later in the year as we apply to achieve the Customer Service Excellence Award.
Like families, farms and business, the National Park Authority has to tighten its belt and in 2012 we will be both implementing the 5.6% cut in our grant for 2012/13 and also expect more lean years ahead. This year we will be looking in detail at how we might use the freedom to set our own planning fees; opportunities to create greater income from our assets and services; and further cuts in staff, especially amongst the senior management of the organisation.
We are delighted that at a time of difficult budgets, we have been able to agree to £450 000 of spending on new work for the period to 2015 which will support many of the priority areas listed in this forward look. We will also begin to spend £450 000 of capital that will include investing to save in our properties and reducing our carbon footprint. Through careful budgeting, even at a time of cuts in our revenue budget we have been able to fund this priority work in the short-term.
The commitment of all of the people associated with the National Park continues to humble us both. This year we will celebrate the first of a series of 50 year anniversaries amongst our voluntary rangers who do such wonderful work. We will also be expanding the role of volunteering across the organisation, together with finding new ways of helping a wider range of people to volunteer.
We continue to work closely with all of our dedicated staff and recognise that continued downward pressure on incomes applies to you all. And we look forward to further ways in which members will play bigger roles in the community and the introduction of a directly-elected element for the first time.
You are all a great team and your efforts really are valued.
Jim Dixon, Chief Executive and Tony Favell, Chair of the Authority
