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Stand up for Stanage (Read 7805 times)

shark

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Stand up for Stanage
August 30, 2013, 11:06:36 pm
Sign this petition ............
Petitioning Peak District National Park Authority
Stand up for Stanage
Petition by the British Mountaineering Council
 


http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/stand-up-for-stanage

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is calling on climbers, walkers and everybody with a love for Stanage Edge, Derbyshire, to sign this petition to help safeguard its future.

Stanage is the most popular crag in Britain – maybe in the world – and a classic walking destination for millions of people who visit the Peak District every year.  But decisions are being made that could change it significantly – and we need your help to state our case.

Right now, the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) is deciding the future of the North Lees Estate, which contains a large proportion of Stanage Edge and the surrounding moorland.  The PDNPA is short of money and wants to generate more income from North Lees.  We are concerned that could become its priority, over and above conservation and freedom of access.

Stanage was all but given to the PDNPA in the early 1970s by General Sir Hugh Beech on the understanding the estate would always be somewhere everyone could enjoy quiet recreation.  We fear such freedoms could be threatened if the PDNPA tries to develop the estate’s commercial potential – an estate acquired with public money for public benefit.

There has been no recent public consultation on the future of this public land, yet the PDNPA seems set to make far reaching decisions without having set out a sustainable vision for this iconic landscape.  The nearby Eastern Moors Partnership is an excellent template for involving the public and setting out a plan for the future.  The PDNPA is missing the opportunity to use it.

So the BMC is offering its own charter for Stanage; a charter for the future management of Stanage – whoever owns it.  We are asking you to sign up to it so we can make the voices of all who care about Stanage heard by National Park Authority.

The nine points of the Stanage Charter are:

- This publicly-owned estate must be retained forever for everyone.  It should never be fragmented.

- North Lees Estate is on Open Access Land.  Any commercial enterprise must not impede the spirit of access for all.

- Key stakeholders – recreational users and the local community – must be consulted before decisions are made.  There must be transparency in decision-making.

- Caring for conservation, wildlife and landscape is paramount.  There need be no conflict between this, adventure activity and quiet enjoyment.

- People value Stanage as a wild area kept free from intrusive developments.  This must be safeguarded.

- The cultural and archaeological heritage of Stanage must be preserved.

- Any revenue raised from the estate should be reinvested in the landscape.

- Shooting rights should not be exercised.

- The local economy relies on preservation of these values and open access.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2013, 06:19:40 pm by habrich, Reason: sub-title for front page »

andyd

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#1 Re: Stand up for Stanage
August 31, 2013, 11:30:25 am
Any chanced that this could be linked to a US forum?  I'm still getting regular emails as a result of a similar petition that UKB'ers supported for camp 4 in the valley a few years ago.

slackline

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#2 Re: Stand up for Stanage
August 31, 2013, 07:21:26 pm
Any chanced that this could be linked to a US forum?  I'm still getting regular emails as a result of a similar petition that UKB'ers supported for camp 4 in the valley a few years ago.

Just register and post it on whatever US forum you want it linked on?

andyd

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#3 Re: Stand up for Stanage
August 31, 2013, 08:42:48 pm
Ok, it should have read, 'please can someone who is already registered on a US forum...'
I am aware that I can join any forum by registering.

old cheese

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#4 Re: Stand up for Stanage
August 31, 2013, 11:16:43 pm
Does anyone on here think that as climbers did not support the 4x4ers and their access to public land a few months ago we have kinda shot ourselves in the foot a little in terms of having some extra clout now? It seems to me we could be accused as being a little up our arses thinking that us and the ramblers alone are entitled to the the edge

Johnny Brown

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#5 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 01, 2013, 08:07:22 am
No. The law is on the side of the 4x4ers and they know how to work it. Recently the Peak Park have basically stopped consulting on what they are doing with Stanage, including sidelining their own Stanage forum which they set up for that purpose. Their is limited potential to earn money from the estate (parking & ?) much of which has been tried before. Despite stating change was imminent some years back, progress has been glacial. TBH I think it would be better if they sold/leased it as they have done with their other estates.

mrjonathanr

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#6 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 01, 2013, 10:53:07 am
Do you know what the building works at Burbage Bridge towards the Cowper Stone are for?

corpy

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#7 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 08, 2013, 09:37:48 am
I put this up on my FB hopefully encourage a wider audience to sign.

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#8 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 11, 2013, 04:08:02 pm
Up for discussion at Peak area BMC meet tonight in Glossup.

shark

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#9 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 18, 2013, 12:26:00 pm
https://thebmc.co.uk/keep-standing-up-for-stanage

Have you signed our Stand up for Stanage online petition? We’re currently at 9,732 people and would love 10,000 by Friday. Why? Because that’s when BMC access officer Rob Dyer has to stand up for real – and speak to the National Park.

For the past month the BMC has been running the Stand up for Stanage campaign. We have called on climbers, walkers and everybody with a love for Stanage Edge, Derbyshire, to sign a petition to help safeguard its future.

Stanage is the most popular crag in Britain, but decisions are being made that could change it significantly. Right now, the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) is deciding the future of the North Lees Estate, which contains a large proportion of Stanage Edge and the surrounding moorland.  The PDNPA is short of money and wants to generate more income from North Lees.

On Friday, BMC access officer Rob Dyer will be making a speech to the Peak Park’s Audit and Performance Committee, which “monitors and reviews the corporate governance and performance of the Authority to ensure that it is providing a 'best value' service.”

A paper has been presented to the committee by PDNPA officers on options for the estate, and on Friday the committee will discuss the options and make a decision. The crux of the issue – and why the BMC is concerned – is that the paper comprises two parts: part A, which is publically available, and part B, which is not.

To help prepare for the unknown Plan B, Rob Dyer would rather like to have 10,000 supporters to show the committee just how valuable Stanage is to climbers and walkers.



It is now 10038  ;D

grimer

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#10 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 18, 2013, 08:00:09 pm
Sign now and stand to win a special prize - a Stanage guide personally adressed to you and signed by Jerry Moffatt, Johnny Dawes, Ben Moon and Ron Fawcett.

It was my job to phone them up and ask them. Jerry said he wouldn't sign it if Johnny's signature was on it. Johnny said he wouldn't sign if anyone else's signature was on it.

cofe

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#11 Stand up for Stanage
September 18, 2013, 08:09:18 pm
And that's why they're all legends.

underground

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#12 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 18, 2013, 11:27:46 pm
Did Ron just smile and ask 'how many times is that youth?'

SamT

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#13 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 20, 2013, 09:49:07 pm

Yay

Quote
20 September 2013
ID 1083
 
 
National Park Authority to keep Stanage and North Lees estate
 
The Peak District National Park Authority is to retain the ownership and management of the popular climbing, walking and wildlife area of Stanage Edge and the surrounding North Lees estate.
The Authority’s audit, resources and performance committee today (Sept 20) voted unanimously to keep the 545-hectare estate above Hathersage, and to drive forward a business plan to make it break even financially by September 2014.
The Authority has been reviewing all its properties in the light of Government cuts of more than 30 per cent in its budget between 2011-2015, and has previously leased its Eastern Moors estate to a partnership of the National Trust and RSPB and the Roaches to the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.
Such a partnership option was considered but discounted in this case.
Committee chair Christopher Pennell said: “We wanted to give certainty on the future of the estate for the sake of the local community, users, tenants, the Authority’s managers and staff and everyone who knows and loves it. After careful consideration we concluded that the Authority is in the best position to run the North Lees estate.
“It was bought with public money and we are fully committed to ensuring public access, conservation, education and innovation.
“We believe in it, our officers have given us a business plan showing how it could be brought to a position where we recover full costs, and we want them to get on with it without the distraction of continuing to investigate the possibility of external partnerships or disposal.
“This will mean people may have to be prepared to pay more than they have before, for instance for car parking, camping, refreshment concessions or for utilising buildings. But they can rest assured that there would never be any restriction or charge for access, and that any income generated on the estate will be re-invested in the estate.
“We also want to assure community and user groups, who are as passionate about Stanage and the North Lees estate as we are, that they will be fully involved in formulating a new vision for the estate for the 21st century.”
He welcomed the fact that some of them spoke at the meeting – they were Rob Dyer from the British Mountaineering Council, Jean Hodgkinson from the Stanage Forum, John Thompson from the Peak District Local Access Forum and Keith Jennings, a former head of property for the national park authority.
After the decision John Thompson said: “This is something that we could certainly welcome. We do think it’s important to refresh the vision for the estate and it’s something we’re prepared to put a lot of energy into.”
In addition to Stanage Edge, which attracts climbers from all over the world, the North Lees estate includes
•       a 480 hectare farm (1186 acres), recently let to a 23 year old farmer who will raise traditional-breed sheep and cattle
•       the North Lees campsite, with 60 pitches
•       eight woodlands (45 hectares) – where applications have been made for conservation grants
•       traditional farm buildings including a Grade 2 listed cruck barn that could be used for community events in conjunction with the farm tenant
•       four car parks
•       the Elizabethan North Lees Hall (leased until 2038 to the historic buildings charity the Vivat Trust for holiday accommodation). The hall’s east wing is to be refurbished as accommodation for the farm tenant.

Johnny Brown

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#14 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 20, 2013, 10:22:43 pm
Yay would not be my response.

Quote
The Authority has been reviewing all its properties in the light of Government cuts of more than 30 per cent in its budget between 2011-2015
Quote
After careful consideration we concluded that the Authority is in the best position to run the North Lees estate.

Not a natural conclusion - especially when you've seen the plan for funding it. I can't see it breaking even as a business unless in a vague way as part of a large membership organisation.

Over the last few years the authority have increasingly ignored stakeholder groups such as the Stanage forum. The BMC today asked whether their 12,000 signature petition might earn them a conversation with the authority. 'No' was the answer.

Expect increased parking charges, increased camping charges, increased policing of charges, but less wardening of the estate. Expect more food vans, a less climber-friendly campsite, more restrictions due to commercial filming. Expect the money to disappear into propping up the top-heavy bureaucracy of the authority, and not invested back into the estate.

It would have been far better if they had admitted they can't afford it, and passed it to an organisation who might be able to invest the money in it it needs. The best we can hope for is that a change of policy in government reverses the authority's budget cuts.

SamT

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#15 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 20, 2013, 10:51:40 pm

oh.

Bit of a bleak outlook, I guess your more aware of the nuts and bolts of it all than most of us on here, however, my gut feeling is that not a lot will really change, other than tighter parking charges - i.e. they might actually start enforcing them and lets face it, we've been pretty damned lucky on that front for a long time compared to places like the lakes and wales.

GraemeA

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Johnny Brown

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#17 Re: Stand up for Stanage
September 21, 2013, 02:07:58 pm
I have no idea where they got that from, all the BMC bods I know involved with this do not consider it a victory.

 

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