Councillor Andrew McCloy

About me

I have lived in the national park for the last 20 years and I am a freelance writer specialising in outdoor recreation and countryside issues. I am the author of over a dozen walking guidebooks and contribute to various magazines and newspapers. I am also a self employed consultant specialising in access and recreation issues.

In my home village of Youlgrave I have edited our monthly community magazine called The Bugle since 2002 and am an active supporter of local groups such as Youlgrave Cinema and Bankside Wildlife Garden. I'm also a Foundation Governor at Youlgrave All Saints C of E (VA) Primary School. I'm married with two daughters and my wife runs 1st Youlgrave Guides and Youlgrave's Duke of Edinburgh Award unit.

I have been a Youlgrave Parish Councillor for over a decade (five years as chair) and, until 2011, was also an independent District Councillor for the Lathkill and Bradford ward of the Derbyshire Dales.

I am a former member and chairman of the Peak District Local Access Forum and a former panel member of the Peak District Sustainable Development Fund.

What the national park means to me

I have always found the national park a truly inspirational place and I love exploring the landscape on foot, whether high up on the remote moors or wandering the limestone dales surrounding my village.

But as someone deeply immersed in my community I'm also acutely aware that the Peak District is an environment where people live and work – and it's vital that we at the National Park Authority understand this and we do all we can to support them.

I've actively campaigned to both save and promote our local shops and services, as well as championed the provision of affordable homes so that our young people and families can continue to live amongst us and keep our communities vibrant and healthy. To that end, I vigorously supported the building of a development of eight (award-winning) affordable two and three-bed houses in Youlgrave in 2015 - all of which are now homes for local people.

For two years I was Business Development Manager for Bakewell & Eyam Community Transport, which helps some of our most vulnerable residents, especially the elderly, who are disadvantaged through health issues or a lack of private transport.

For me, though, the most profound and long-term challenge to this national park is perhaps also the hardest for many of us to grasp. Climate change has the potential to alter the very appearance of the national park, as well as affect everything from farming practices through to wildlife distribution and visitor patterns.

We need to address this now, but not by telling people what to do in a top-down way but by enabling our residents and educating our visitors to adopt more sustainable ways of going about their lives – from responsible tourism to far-sighted land management and a more positive attitude to appropriately scaled and sited renewable energy development that respects its surroundings.

The national park is quite rightly a special place for millions of visitors, but for it to remain so it has to foster a healthy, well-supported and appreciated local community.

Membership of outside bodies

In my role as a councillor I am a member of the following:

Youlgrave Parish Council

In a personal capacity I am a member of the following:

Ramblers' Association

Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild

Institute of Public Rights of Way and Access Management

Foundation Governor - All Saints CE Primary School Youlgrave