Peak District National Park Authority Public Meeting - Warslow

Date: 7 July 2004
Venue: Village Hall
Attendance: approximately 150 - 200 people

Issues raised by members of the public:

Almost the entire meeting was taken up by affordable housing discussion. Most of the audience were local young people who can't afford to buy in the area.

Summary of concerns:

• Too many holiday cottages
• Can't get planning permission for affordable housing schemes, only for holiday cottages
• Young people have to move out the area because the jobs are low paid
• Even 'affordable' housing is way out the reach of most people
• Why can't PDNPA work with other authorities and set aside land for affordable housing / publicise which areas affordable housing is appropriate
• Too many holiday cottages have a knock-on effect on decline of village services / shops / schools etc.

Jim Dixon / Tony Hams:

This is a national issue.
We are not a housing developer and can't build houses.
We can only respond to applications before us can't make people lodge applications for affordable housing.
We provide advice and guidance and have just published affordable housing
We can't force developers to press ahead and build developments that have planning permission.
Statements of need are very important.
The plan reviews will look at what's permitted / not permitted in and around settlements.
We will look at local plans and the issue of identifying land we will be looking to parish councils to come forward with ideas that challenge existing boundaries, e.g. what land do they think should be set aside for affordable housing?
Vitality of villages is very important for the future of the Park we don't want to see schools / services closing and should increasingly use our influence as a large local organisation to lobby in support of local communities.
We need to work more with young people to find out what they want do they even want to live in the Park when they grow up?

Councillor Roberts (Macclesfield Borough councillor): PDNPA is not representative and is undemocratic. Needs to be an elected National Park forum.

Tony Hams:

The structure is set down by the secretary of state.
Parish members are very good at representing their local area. Turnouts at local elections are so low that elected councillors are not necessarily representative of their constituents.
Talked through plans for consultation / engagement plan reviews etc. so we are giving our stakeholders an opportunity to shape what happens.

John Herbert:

Parish members take their roles very seriously.

CAP reforms are one of the biggest threats to the area. Local farmers stand to lose a big chunk of their income. The landscape will suffer.

Jim Dixon:

Agree with all the concerns and we fully support the farming community. We are lobbying the Government and they have promised to review the system in the future. In the meantime it's important for farmers to maintain dialogue with PDNPA.

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.