For a long time we have been out of the loop when it comes to being involved in the development and maintainance of the rights of way network as well as the countryside in general. However in the past year or so we have started to get asked our opinion on things more and more. Sometimes that takes the form of asking Ride Sheffield for advice, but sometimes we get asked to canvas the wider mountain biking community. So here are several opportunities for you to use your voice and influence changed made to our rights of way.
Something worth bearing in mind when having this type of forum is to not go down the everything must cater for mountain bikers etc, as our experience from other meetings, it is the groups who take this approach tend to make very little useful headway! It is also worth noting that the ROWIP’s have a big influence on the work that is done on the ground, and it is the lack of consultation with mountain bikers for the last Sheffield ROWIP that led to the smooth multi user bridleways.
Derbyshire Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP)
We are asking for people’s views on our latest proposals for improving the network of paths and trails across Derbyshire over the next five years, including those in the Peak District National Park.
We produced our first Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) in 2007, based on what people told us were the most important issues and what our priorities should be for meeting the needs of both local residents and visitors to the area. It included a statement of the action we proposed to take for the period from 2007 to 2012. We are now revising that statement of action to take us through the next five years to 2017.
We would like your views on what we are trying to achieve and whether you, or the organisation that you represent, agree with the way that we have prioritised the aims and identified needs in the draft statement of action or if there are any proposed actions that are missing. We are producing this new document during a challenging time for local authorities in the face of continuing spending cuts. It is therefore even more important than ever to get your comments on how we can strike the right balance between being realistic about what can be achieved against the need to be aspirational.
However, if this is not possible then paper copies of the questionnaire are available in our libraries or in countryside visitor centres. Paper copies or alternative formats of the draft statement of action and the questionnaire itself can also be requested by contacting one of us by telephone (Gill on 01629 539656 and Claire on 01629 539652) or by emailing
gill.millward@derbyshire.gov.uk or
claire.oreilly@derbyshire.gov.ukHigh Peak Moors Vision and Plan
From the start of 2012, the National Trust has been working with our farming and other game managing tenants as well as a wide range of stakeholders, including local communities and users of the area, to produce the ‘High Peak Moors Vision and Plan’ which will create a vision and guide the management of the High Peak Moors in the Peak District over the next 25 years. It is hoped to finish the Vision and Plan by early 2013.
The Vision and Plan will cover the moorland areas of the National Trust’s ownership within the High Peak, which is centred around Kinder and Bleaklow. The areas included are Kinder; Park Hall; Lady Clough and Alport Moor; Blackden and Black Ashop Moor; Ashop; Blackley Hey and Blackden; Nether and Upper Moors; Birchinlee; Ronksley; Derwent and Howden; South Head Moor; and East Crowden
If you would like to have your say, you can add your comments here
http://www.high-peak-moors.co.uk/public-consultation/, If possible try to keep the comments positive! Gives the National Trust something nice to read after some of the more vitriolic comments that they have had to plough through!
