The Peak District National Park Authority are planning a series of visits to Peak District villages. The first visit will be to Hartington on 30th September, when the Chair, Narendra Bajaria, and the Chief Executive, Jim Dixon, will be meeting members of the Hartington community. Parwich is included in the list of villages to be visited, but we do not have a date yet. If you want to be involved in the visit contact John Fern, head of communications, on 01629 816356 or emailing john.fern@peakdistrict.gov.uk.
Below is the Authority’s full press release:
PR 529 – 22 September 2008
Community Visits: Tell us what you think
Residents in Hartington are being invited to meet with leaders from the Peak District National Park Authority to talk about issues in their village.
Narendra Bajaria, chair of the authority, and chief executive Jim Dixon will visit Hartington on Tuesday 30 September in the first of a series of visits to get the views of residents in local communities across the national park.
The Hartington event is a chance for Narendra and Jim to meet with residents, business owners, teachers and parish councillors in the village to discuss a range of issues. These are likely to include:
• the need for more affordable housing
• work to support local businesses and farmers
• the future of the Hartington Creamery
They will also discuss the work of the Peak District National Park Authority to find out what is working well and areas where improvements could be made.
Narendra Bajaria said: “The Peak District National Park is a living and working place that is home to 38,000 people. We are always keen to work with and support local communities on issues ranging from community planning through to environmental projects or providing grants to support local businesses.
“Our aim is for the visit to be as informal as possible so that Hartington residents have every opportunity to talk about the issues that matter to them and their families.”
Narendra and Jim will start their 30 September visit at Hartington Hall, where they will meet Youth Hostel Association staff. They will then talk to some business owners before going to Hartington Primary School to meet the headteacher, chair of governors and parents.
At 5pm they will meet Hartington Parish Council and any member of the public who wishes to attend in the café at The Hayloft in Church Street – opposite the Royal British Legion building.
The Hartington visit will be the first in a series of visits across different parts of the national park. In the coming months it is hoped to meet residents in a range of communities including:
• Bakewell
• Bradfield
• Eyam
• Rainow
• Parwich
• Waterhouses and Calton
Anyone from these communities interested in taking part in the events can contact John Fern, head of communications, on 01629 816356 or emailing john.fern@peakdistrict.gov.uk
PARWICH.ORG 
Thank your to John Fern of the PDNPA for further clarification, in response to our request for a date for the Parwich visit:
Before a more detailed programme can be drawn up I need to establish available dates in the diary of our chair Narendra Bajaria. He will be accompanied by either the chief executive Jim Dixon or another of the directors.
Most of the visits will be in the afternoon/tea time and the aim is that they are informal meetings with small groups rather than big formal public meetings. They are keen to visit people in different locations that suit them (eg local shop or Post Office, village or church hall, local school, village pub, tea room or their front room etc).
I am happy to get requests from Alsop en le Dale, Ballidon or Pikehall [to be involved with the Parwich visit]. We will do our best to accommodate as many people as possible but obviously I need to take into account the time available, allowing sufficient opportunity for them to travel between locations and have a meaningful discussion with the people they are seeing.