Have your say on future Peak District National Park plans

The National Park Authority’s Policy and Communities team will seek views on house building, developing business and commercial properties, as well as protecting green spaces and the environment. 

A series of roadshows will also take the message to villages across the Peak District with locals invited to attend and learn more about how to take part. The consultation started this week and runs until 29 November 2024.

Following the consultation, the next local plan is expected to be shorter than previous plans and will combine information previously included across two separate documents making it easier to understand and use.

Ken Smith, chairman of the Peak District National Park Authority, said: “To misquote a Monty Python line: ‘What has the local plan ever done for us?’

“I can tell you that the answer includes affordable housing schemes at Bakewell, Bradwell, Taddington, Winster and Youlgrave; approvals for alternative renewable energies at Aldwark and Meerbrook; improvement of the visitor experience at Millers Dale Station; replacement of two village halls  at Over Haddon and Parwich; business developments at Deepdale and Riverside in Bakewell; replacing older buildings with new ones that support our policies for conservation and recreation, such as the Boot and Bike hotel in the Hope Valley.

“These examples of positive recent developments show how important the local plan is. It’s rooted partly in statute to conserve the special character and appearance of the national park, but also in people’s aspirations for what building development is wanted and which green spaces need to be protected in the areas that are important to them.

“Local plans capture these aspirations as a strategy for what can be developed and what needs to be protected, and set policies that make such aims possible when we come to make decisions on planning applications. 

“That’s why we want people to take part in the consultation and let us know their views.”

The Peak District National Park Authority’s new local plan will shape future development in the park to 2045.

Planning policies set out in the new plan will guide decisions on development proposals and planning applications in the national park including everything from housing to quarrying. 

Adele Metcalfe, policy and communities team manager for the Peak District National Park Authority, said: “The new local plan will identify where development can and cannot take place in the national park for the next 20 years. 

“So we’re expecting it to be of interest to everyone that lives and works in, visits or does business in the national park, as well as those that care for it. We want the local plan to reflect the needs of our communities so we want to encourage everyone to have their say.”

Consultation events will be held at different venues in the national park. Visit www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/localplan for more information. 

by Alison Riley, Buxton Advertiser, 10 October 2024

“