Former chief exec of the Scouts Derek Twine has become the Chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority replacing Neil Heseltine, who has completed a four-year term.
Mr Twine was elected today by the 25-Member board of the National Park Authority, and said the National Park Authority had much to do, working with partners on nature recovery, carbon reduction, rights of way, helping local councils to provide more affordable housing and supporting young people.
“Why did I put myself forward for this role? Because there is so much good already being done by the National Park Authority, right across the Dales, yet there’s so much more that needs to be done – and that has to be done,” he said.
“The most important issue we are working on at the moment is the development of the new five-year National Park Management Plan. This will set out our plans, and those of many other organisations who operate in the National Park. The coming years are crucial as we attempt to reverse the decline in nature and mitigate against the worst impacts of climate change.
“As a planning authority we are also working on a new Local Plan, which will set out policies for development in the National Park for the next 15 years.”
Mr Twine said he would be keen to draw on his experience leading the Scouts. “Young people are the future. There’s even more we can do on apprenticeships, on building on the success of our youth volunteering programme, and on making sure young people are able to shape our policies and plans.
“Then there are our bread and butter work programmes to keep up: rights of way maintenance and access, development management and farm conservation. On the latter, we want to build on the success of the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme and engage with a new Government on its plans for land use. In particular, we need to ensure the Environmental Land Management schemes are working well for upland farm businesses.”
