Looking after

How we work to look after the National Park, conservation, ranger services, biodiversity and policies.

Andrew McCloy

Councillor Andrew McCloy

I am the elected chair of Youlgrave Parish Council.

I am the member representative for climate change and natural resources.

Telephone: 01629 636125

Email: andrew.mccloy@peakdistrict.gov.uk

Address: Englemere, Brookleton, Youlgrave, Derbyshire, DE45 1UT

About Me

I have lived in the National Park for the last 15 years and amongst other things I am a freelance writer specialising in outdoor recreation and countryside issues. I am the author of over a dozen walking guidebooks and contribute to magazines such as BBC Countryfile and The Great Outdoors.

I carry out occasional access consultancy work and have recently co-launched a website devoted to recreational cycling in the Peak District.

I am also the part-time Business Development Manager for Bakewell and Eyam Community Transport.

In my home village of Youlgrave I edit our monthly community magazine called The Bugle (www.thebugle.org.uk) and am an active supporter of local groups such as Sustainable Youlgrave, Bankside Wildlife Garden and Youlgrave Cinema.

I’m married with two daughters, the youngest of whom attends our village primary school. My wife runs 1st Youlgrave Guides and the local Duke of Edinburgh Award unit.

I have been a Youlgrave Parish Councillor for the last decade (five years as Chair) and until 2011 was also an independent District Councillor for the Lathkill and Bradford ward of the Derbyshire Dales.

I am a member and previous chairman of the Peak District Local Access Forum and a former panel member of the Peak District Sustainable Development Fund.

What the national park means to me

I have always found the National Park a truly inspirational place and I love exploring the landscape on foot and by bike, whether high up on the remote moors or wandering the limestone dales surrounding my village.

But as someone deeply immersed in my community I’m also acutely aware that the Peak District is an environment where people live and work – and it’s vital that we at the National Park Authority understand this and do all we can to support them.

I’ve actively campaigned to save our local shops and services, as well as championed the provision of affordable homes so that our young people and families can continue to live amongst us and keep our communities vibrant and healthy. Through my work for community transport I also try and help some of our most vulnerable residents, especially the elderly, who are disadvantaged through a lack of private transport. 

For me, though, the most profound and long term challenge to this National Park is perhaps also the hardest for many of us to understand. Climate change has the potential to alter the very appearance of the National Park, as well as affect everything from farming practices through to wildlife distribution and visitor patterns.

We need to address this now, but not by telling people what to do in a top-down way but by enabling our residents and educating our visitors to adopt more sustainable ways of going about their lives – from sustainable travel options and responsible tourism to far-sighted land management and a more positive attitude to appropriately scaled and sited renewable energy development that is sensitive to its surroundings.

The National Park is quite rightly a special place for millions of visitors, but for it to remain so our own communities have to be encouraged to value and appreciate it too.

Membership of outside bodies

In my role as a councillor I am a member of the following:

  • Youlgrave Parish Council

In a personal capacity I am a member of the following:

  • Peak District Local Access Forum
  • Ramblers’ Association
  • Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild