PARWICH.ORG

On Tuesday 13th January the Peak District National Park on their visit to Parwich were represented by:

• Irene Ratcliffe, Deputy Chair (Irene.Ratcliffe@peakdistrict.gov.uk)
• Jim Dixon, Chief Executive (jim.dixon@peakdistrict.gov.uk)
• John Fern, Head of Communications (john.fern@peakdistrict.gov.uk)
• Adele Metcalfe, Village Officer (Adele.Metcalfe@peakdistrict.gov.uk)
• Dan Yates, Village Officer (daniel.yates@peakdistrict.gov.uk)

With for the second part of the afternoon there also being

• Christopher Carr, Parish Representative to PDNPA Board (Christopher.Carr@peakdistrict.gov.uk)

The afternoon included visits to the Pub and the School, followed by a series of meetings in the Memorial Hall.  Thank you to everyone who participated in the visit and helped report back.  Here are our write ups of most of those sessions, and we will add reports on the remaining when/if they become available:

1-30pm Sycamore Inn

The visit to the Sycamore included discussion of the Shop in the pub; the winning of the national Best Community Pub 2008; that prescriptions can be collected via the new Shop; the flooding in September 2008; and the plans to create a small cyber-café in the pub so people not on-line can access PARWICH.ORG. The Village Officers are exploring possible funding sources to help with the cost of broadband. Also the community recycling point in the pub car park was discussed.

2-15pm Parwich Primary School

3-45pm PARWICH.ORG

At the start of this session, an email sent to the blog (on the issue of many village households still being out of their homes following last September’s flooding, and the need to prevent any future recurrence) was passed on to the Authority representatives. Irene Ratcliffe had a number of suggestions, including the possibility of bidding for money for improvement schemes against a joint District Council and Environment Agency pot, and exploring the role of the Emergency Services. It is problematic in that the number of dry valleys (or ones with small streams, where similar events are possible) in the Park are well into the thousands. It was not discussed further at this point, as it was assumed the flooding issue would be raised again latter in the day.

The PDNPA representatives met with Mike Atkinson and Peter Trewhitt from the blog team, who explained the reasons for setting up PARWICH.ORG and the benefits that had been derived from it.

The reaction from PDNPA was enthusiastic and positive. The representatives were already aware of the blog, with most of them following it on a regular basis. It was generally agreed that village community blogging can help to inform and generally strengthen the community it represents; that it can help to generate and reinforce a positive feeling about the place in which we live; and that it can give that community a greater voice in the outside world.

We discussed the widespread take-up of broadband Internet in rural communities, before moving on to examine ways in which Internet access can be spread (e.g. via local access points and “cyber-cafés”). The PDNPA were invited to help promote the concept of community blogging within the national park area, and options were put forward for discussion, e.g. a PDNPA-hosted one-day seminar with workshop sessions, and promotion of Parwich’s initiative via PDNPA’s newsletter. The blog team reps expressed a willingness to work further with the PDNPA on helping to promote and educate other communities, having already performed a similar function in a nearby Peak District village.

4-15pm Parwich Village Action Group

The slot began with Peter Trewhitt describing our living and working community on the basis of the information gathered by the Village Action Group in response to the description of Parwich as a ‘dormitory village’ in the draft Conservation Area Appraisal last year.

The Action Group has benefited from ongoing support from the Village Officers and in response to our questions about their future (current funding ends March 2009), Jim Dixon said that they were waiting to hear about possible EMDA funding to ensure the continuation of the Community Planning Team. The Action Group indicated that they would write to EMDA in support of this proposal.

We discussed general issues around communication and consultation. Chris Elton outlined the changing government policy putting the focus back on local democracy and highlighted our community’s growing desire to influence policy decisions that impact on us. Irene Ratcliffe stressed the need for empowering communities, relating this to her role in the East Midlands Regional Assembly. Jim Dixon stressed that, as well as Chris Carr as our local Parish Council Representative on the Board, all Board Members can be contacted directly by residents and local groups. Contact details for all members can be found at the PDNPA website, and the member representatives on certain issues are:

• All National Park Management Plan outcomes – Narendra Bajaria
• Biodiversity – Harry Bowell
• Cultural heritage and historic environment – Pauline Beswick
• Natural beauty (landscapes) – Christopher Pennell
• Climate change and natural resources – Anne Ashe
• Mineral extraction – Hilda Gaddum
• Traffic, travel and accessibility – Jacque Bevan
• Recreation – Geoff Nickolds
• Tourism – Leigh Rix (until 31.3.09 when his term of office ends)
• Understanding the national park (includes the young people’s action plan, environmental learning, under-represented people action plan and visitor action plan) – Professor John Herbert
• People and communities – (includes local residents’ action plan, affordable housing, village planning, rural services and oversight of work on Local Area Agreements) – Lesley Roberts
• Economy (particularly the environmental economy) – Sue Prince
• Asset management – Leigh Rix (until 31.3.09)
• Transformational government and member learning and development – Pat Coleman

Also see the Authority’s Working with People and Communities Strategy.

Janice Wigley stressed need for provision of Affordable Housing. Irene Ratcliffe and Jim Dixon indicated the Authority’s support for more housing being made available. Jim Dixon has a national role in the National Parks Association in relation to affordable housing provision in rural areas. Though decisions on funding are made on the basis of Housing Needs Surveys and housing is primarily the responsibility of the District Council, once any possible projects are identified locally we should contact both Jim Dixon directly as well as the Planning Service well before submitting any applications. (Note, Parwich Parish Council and the Village Action Group are also meeting with the District Council next week to discuss these issues.)

There was not sufficient time to discuss all the Environment issues, but follow up discussions with the Village Officers are to be planned on possible funding sources.

Lynette Coyne outlined the traffic survey undertaken in the village and the idea of shared space with village pedestrians having right of way, together with a reduction of signs and road markings. Parwich Parish Council are currently in discussion with the County Council’s Highway Department on removal of redundant road signs. Local discussion is taking place on the idea of extending this to a more comprehensive shared space scheme, and Jim Dixon was personally very enthusiastic about the idea wanting to explore informally how the Authority could support Parwich becoming a pilot scheme in the area.

There was not enough time to cover all that we would like to have discussed. Those present on behalf of the Action Group felt that, though they obviously had to operate within ‘political’ constraints, the Authority representatives had genuinely listened and started a dialogue on various issues that will continue.

5-00pm Parwich Memorial Hall

The Memorial Hall Committee was represented by Mike Gerard-Pearse and Amanda Johnson. As a volunteer who has been dealing with communication, Patti Beasley was in attendance, as was Val Stevenson who was instrumental in the successful BLF submission.

In relation to the rebuild of The Memorial Hall, the meeting had two key foci; firstly, how we could continue to build effective communication between The Management Committee and the PDNPA whilst proceeding through the rebuild process. We reflected on the process of gaining planning permission, and how both parties had learned from the process, and what issues had made the process more protracted than it might have been.

Jim Dixon gave very positive feedback on the growing partnership being forged between the Memorial Hall Management Committee and the PDNPA and also some very positive pointers about how we could have improved the process of our application.

The second focus related to the funding and how, as the costs of building in the Peak Park inevitably put up overall costs, they could support us in the raising the funds still needed. Jim Dixon and Irene Ratcliffe were able to suggest several potential sources of funding and confirmed our eligibility for these.

John Fern (Head of Communications) offered to forward us the relevant information and contacts so we could further these applications efficiently. The meeting closed with Jim Dixon and Irene Ratcliffe wishing us luck with the Project and assuring us of their best attention in ensuring the ultimate success of the rebuild Project.

6-00pm Local Parish Councils and the public

Representatives of Parwich, Alsop en-le Dale, Ballidon and Bradbourne Parish Councils, District Councillor Simon Spencer and members of the public, attended the final slot of the day.

The main concern of the residents attending was how the PDNPA dealt with planning applications. The general feeling was an inconsistency with planning decisions and that residents were made to jump through hoops. Ballidon, a small hamlet overshadowed by the Tarmac quarry, is put under more restrictions than the larger village of Bradbourne because one is in the park and the other is not.

Effective communication and more assistance when submitting planning application would help residents given the greater restrictions when building in the village especially within the conservation area.

Jim Dixon confirmed that the planning service is now fully staffed with help and advice being given where possible. The PDNPA are restricted by timescales and procedures, which do create problems for the service. The advice on any planning applications prior to submission will always be issued `without prejudice’ therefore not guaranteeing planning permission would be granted but that the design was in line with the plan. He suggested that when employing your architect ensure that they have experience of working within the park.  He also us informed of the Planning Aid service available to those on lower incomes.

The PDNPA have taken note of all the issues raised in the session and while making no promises have opened the communication links with residents who have not had this forum before.

To contact the Peak District National Park and to find out more about their activities go to their website