Peak District National Park Authority Public Meeting - Kettleshulme

Date: 21 June 2004
Venue: Village Hall
Attendance: approximately 25 people

Issues raised by members of the public:

Person who runs local post office: Visitors don't contribute to the local economy, bring their own sandwiches and travel in by car don't buy anything locally.

Tony Hams:

Talked thorough sustainable tourism: we encourage people to use public transport and the marketing initiatives tries to get people to stay longer and spend more (i.e. not just about attracting ever more visitors, but rather better quality of visitor). The average spend of a visitor is 14 per day so they do contribute to the Peak District economy.

General concerns about HGVs travelling on narrow roads through the village, and problems with access for emergency vehicles.

John Herbert:

PDNPA will raise the concerns at forum meetings with Cheshire CC.

Peak District National Park Authority is not good at getting information to local people e.g. events and activities. Rangers used to pass things on but not any more.

General concerns from local landowners about access problems & liability.

Tony Hams:

Explained the role of PDNPA and gave contact details for Mike Rhodes for people to talk through concerns and agree e.g. areas for new stiles & access points.

Local man wanted to buy a barn (being sold with planning permission for holiday homes) and convert it into affordable housing for local young people. PDNPA refused permission and said it could only be for holiday let. Why are we so inflexible?

Tony Hams:

Talked through issues of planning permission for conversions in outlying areas, impact on the landscape, servicing etc. if within the village settlement; they would be more likely to get planning permission for affordable housing.

Jim Dixon:

Emphasised importance of statements of local needs.

Peak District National Park Authority ignores the views of parish councils (in the context of comments on planning applications).

Tony Hams:

We do take full account of PC views. It is our job to balance these views against other representations and against the stated policies / regulations. We don't always do what parishes want!

We accept that we are not good at informing PCs why an application they have commented on is accepted / rejected.

We could also do more to work with parishes to explain how they can contribute to the planning process get better quality of representations etc.

We are working closely on all of this with the Peak Park Parishes Forum.

Off road vehicles are getting worse and worse in the area.

Tony Hams:

We work closely with the Highways Authority and police. Please report any problems to the access and recreation service.

Concerns about CAP reform and reduction of farm payments.

Jim Dixon:

This is a big worry to PDNPA and local farmers will be hit. We value the role of farmers in managing and protecting the landscape. We are doing our best to lobby the Government and are liaising with the NFU / CLA. Urged farmers to keep in touch to discuss their individual situations.

Please note that the comments raised by members of the public attending the meetings are not necessarily the views of the Peak District National Park Authority. All comments will be fed into the consultation process.