Looking after

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

Janet Bragg

Councillor Janet Bragg

I am a Sheffield city councillor.

I am the authority’s member representative for traffic, travel and accessibility issues.

Contact me

If you want to contact me about the work of the Peak District National Park Authority you can do so in the following ways:

Telephone: 0114 233 0005

Email: janet.bragg@peakdistrict.gov.uk

Address: 24 Woodfarm Avenue, Sheffield, S6 5LT

About Me

I have lived at the same house - about three miles from the national park boundary - for 46 years and brought up my three daughters there.

I am fortunate enough to live on an estate, which is sandwiched between two beautiful valleys Rivelin and Loxley that is about four miles from the village of Bradfield in the Dark Peak area.

For several years I chaired Stannington Tenants’ Association and campaigned to persuade the local council to refurbish the 14 storey tower blocks.

I also trained as a volunteer advice worker for Stannington Advice Service.
Before becoming a councillor I worked for Sheffield City Council as a community development worker working in some of the most deprived areas of Sheffield.

I have been a city councillor for the last eight years and represent Hillsborough ward.
I chaired the licensing board during the transition stage of the 2003 Liquor Licensing Act and have served on a number of scrutiny boards.

My experience of planning has been in helping my constituents make effective objections to planning applications.

What the national park means to me

I was brought up in the Norfolk countryside, where my father worked as a cowman. Much of my knowledge of farming comes from that time. Nowadays farmers have to diversify in order to make a living.

When I came to Sheffield I began to realise the benefits that my childhood in the country had brought.

The National Park is very different from the Norfolk countryside, not least in that the Park has such a varied landscape. The panoramic views are breathtaking. The contrast of coming through the darkness of the Headstone tunnel onto the viaduct with that beautiful countryside around you is just one of the experiences I won’t forget.

I believe it is very important that the national park is preserved for everyone to enjoy and particularly for future generations. It is part of our national heritage and we have to protect it. I believe that many people in Sheffield feel very strongly about this. In the past they have fought for the right to access the wonderful countryside so close to them.

I believe that community issues and relations are very important and I spend much of my time supporting local groups in their aims to improve their communities within
Hillsborough. This must be similar in the national park.

The overwhelming beauty of the Peak District National Park is of great solace to those of us who live in towns and cities. The people who live within the national park have other needs like jobs, local shops and facilities.

The ability to move around freely is important to them, as well as a key factor in attracting tourism. When everybody is forced to drive in the national park it is bound to cause problems of congestion and pollution, which threatens wildlife and makes life difficult for residents. Yet tourism plays such an important part in the economy of the National Park. Thus public transport has an important role to play.

I think I will enjoy my role as member representative for transport, travel and accessibility and look forward to working with all those involved to improve transport and travel within the National Park. We need to make it as accessible as possible for everybody without creating problems for residents or spoiling the beauty, and threatening the rare species of plants and animals that live there.

Membership of outside bodies

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

  • Deputy Chair of Central Community Assembly
  • Health and well-being scrutiny board
  • Sheffield Theatres’ Trust
  • Planning Board substitute member

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

  • Member of St John’s Church C.E. Owlerton
  • Member of Hillsborough Forum
  • Director of Hillsborough and Area Advice Service
  • Governor of Shooters Grove Primary School