Agenda item

The Chair made the following announcements:

·         Cllr Judith Twigg – this was Cllr Twigg’s last meeting at the Authority following her resignation.  Cllr Twigg was first appointed to the Authority in 1992.  The Chair thanked Cllr Twigg for all her work on behalf of the Authority and in particular for her local knowledge with regard to Planning Committee issues.  Cllr Twigg was presented with cards and gifts including a photo print of Bakewell Bridge.  Cllr Twigg thanked the Chair and Members for their good wishes and stated that she had only decided to leave the Authority as she was cutting down on her commitments since her recent illness and she had recently been made Vice Chair of Derbyshire County Council.

·         New Members – the Chair reported that Cllr Rob Walker had been appointed to replace Cllr Nicola Turner from Kirklees Council and that Cllr Mike Chaplin had been appointed by Sheffield City Council to replace Cllr Alan Law.  Cllr Chaplin was present at the meeting and the Chair welcomed him to his first Authority meeting.

·         RTPI National Award for Planning Excellence  - the Chair invited Jane Newman, Head of Development Management, to inform Members about this award to the Authority.  Jane explained that the Royal Town and Planning Institute had short-listed the the work by the Authority on the Stanton Moor Principles in the Heritage and Culture section of their Planning Excellence  Awards. ,At the presentation evening on the previous day we found out we had won the award.  Jane further explained the background to the Stanton Moor Principles which had been in use for 17 years and had successfully resulted in no old minerals permissions now being in existence on the central area of Stanton Moor, a scheduled ancient monument, and the area was no longer at risk and revocation orders in place.  One of the judges commented that this is how planning should be.

·         Moorland Fire – an up-date was provided on the recent fire on Big Moor, on land manged by the National Trust, the fire had been dealt with and the processes in place to deal with such incidents seemed to work well.  As always the incident will be reviewed and any necessary improvements made to the processes.

·         Council for National Parks – an annual review had been produced and copies were available for Members to take.