If you thought 2016 was a busy year for us here at Peak District MTB, 2017 is shaping up to be more of the same. We’re growing – not just in membership but also in influence and responsibility.
We’re being looked at by many around us as the voice of the community, so we need to take that role seriously; ensuring we represent your views in the right way at the right time, with the right people.
In 2017 we anticipate that we’ll work more closely with the powers that be: Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA), councils, landowners, to work on opening up more access and give riders more of a voice in how things are done in the peak.
Our relationship with the Peak District National Park grows ever closer (they’ve been great in their support for what we’re trying to achieve) so we’ll carry on working together with them to build the partnership and shape the argument. We’ll also work with them on trail maintenance: Derwent, Cutthroat, Cut Gate, Mam Tor, all areas we’ll no doubt work on in 2017; all areas PDNPA have been instrumental in sorting out access and permissions for.
We’ll stay close with Severn Trent Water too. Expect to hear exciting things about access around Ladybower in the coming months. Of course, we have to help them too – so if you see us down Fairholmes one Saturday talking about responsible riding, come and say hi. We’ll have the flag up. We like sausage butties. This year we’re expecting to start work pretty soon on restoring an ancient trail in one of the honeypots. To riders it will be completely new stuff though. Full plans to be shared soon, but we’ll need many hands to make light work of some trail clearance and then ongoing tidying. A fun descent is a distinct possibility, with the added bonus of avoiding conflict with walkers. Stay tuned as we’re working on it on email and in meetings at the mo, getting the permissions in place to start with spades.
We can’t talk about stuff we’re doing without mentioning Rushup. Not a lot more we can do until we see what Derbyshire County Council do. Until then we’re keeping a very close eye on them; Hurst Clough, Bamford Clough, Roman Road are all in their sights. Derbyshire County Council are in our sights too. We’ve invited them repeatedly to talk to us about how we can work together and that will remain our approach. Hopefully this year will be the year they open their doors, their ears and their minds to a different way of working. Let’s see.
Talking about Derbyshire County Council, it’s their elections this year. Every four years you get your chance to have a real say in how the county council is run. We can’t possibly think why you’d want to influence what happens in their election, but later this year we’ll have a look at all the relevant areas to see how you can play a part in shaping the decision making processes at Derbyshire County Council.
So what can you do to help in 2017?
First things first, keep up your support.
Come and join us on our maintenance days – they’re good fun!
Come and join us on our rides with the Experience Community.
Keep talking to us on Facebook, twitter, share what we do wherever you need to.
It’s your support that keeps us going.
Come join us our maintenance days
“Many hands make light work”… we need more volunteers to help on maintenance days.
If you are interested please email james@peakdistrictmtb.org if you want to be informed once our plans are finalised.
