The Defra consultation on direct elections to National Park Authorities (NPA) closed a week ago, but the recent visit of the Politics Show to Parwich got us galvanised and the Village Action Group sent in a response. The Action Group strongly supported the position of readers of PARWICH.ORG and Parwich Parish Council, arguing for some form of direct elections to NPA Boards.
The letter quoted a senior civil servant who described National Parks as ‘the last outpost of colonialism‘, however they refrained from quoting a Parwich resident who was a little more colourful ‘ **** Park planners: a condom on the p**** of progress‘. Fortunately Defra agreed to receiving this contribution after their deadline, and it can be read in full by clicking here.
PARWICH.ORG 
Thank you to Cllr Judith Twigg of Derbyshire County Council for forwarding to PARWICH.ORG the English National Park Authorities Association’s response to this consultation. Cllr Twigg is one of the four Derbyshire County Council representatives on the Peak District NPA Board and a resident of the Park. The full ENPA Association response can be seen at http://www.parwichvillage.co.uk/pdfs/English_National_Parks_response.pdf
It argues that the English NPAs are different to the Scottish, in that they have stronger local communication networks resulting from being longer established; that the current system works well; that changes would undermine the independence of the NPAs; that elections would reduce the range and skill set of potential board members; and that direct elections would not be value for money.
However, Parwich Village Action Group’s letter (see the above post) argues that the current system, although improving, is not working well, and that Park residents should have a direct say in how they are governed.