Meeting of the Lake District National Park Partnership
Monday, 28 June 2010 at 10.00 a.m.
at the Lake District National Park Authority, Murley Moss, Kendal
Name
Lord Clark, Chairman
Bill Jefferson, Member
Richard Leafe
Steve Ratcliffe
Bob Cartwright
Bob Sutcliffe
Clive Wickham
Becky Willis
Fleur Gilchrist
Richard Greenwood
Haydn Spedding
David Thornton
Joanna Pugh
Robert Sheasby
Neil Clark
Marie Fallon
Judith Scarborough
Keith Hitchen
Julie Betteridge
David Sykes
Peter Thornton
Dr Anne Powell
Angela Coulton
Carole Hodgson
Liz Locke (for John Pinder)
Andrew Forsyth
Martyn Staveley
Kevin May
Ruth Atkinson
Malcolm Smith
Bill Kenmir
Mike Clarke
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Organisation
Apologies
LDNPA
)
) In attendance
)
) Facilitator
) Facilitator
Presenter
Secretariat
Cumbria Tourism
National Trust
John Darlington
National Farmers Union
Natural England
Cumbria County Council
Copeland Borough
Council
South Lakeland District
Council
Cumbria Wildlife Trust
Government Office North
West
Country Land & Business
Association
NWDA
ACT
Environment Agency
FoLD
Cumbria Vision
Forestry Commission
Eden District Council
Keith Parker
English Heritage
Lakes Parish Council
CALC
RSPB
Lake District WHS
Henry Owen John
Leslie Johnson
Guy Richardson
David Hunter
Roger Roberts
John Pinder
Roger Liddle
Keith Jones
2
Invited to speak to meeting:
Iain Gold
Organisation
Environment Agency
Liz Beaty
Paul Glading
David Brown
Simon Webb
Darrin Woods
University of Cumbria
Natural England
Environment Agency
Natural England
Rural Development
Initiatives
Cumbria Woodlands
Neville Elstone
LDNP Partnership Meeting
28 June 2010
Subject
Shoreline Management
Plans
Ambleside Campus
River Restoration Project
Flora of the Fells
Cumbria Wildfire Group
Cumbria Woodlands
DRAFT MINUTES
1
Welcome, introduction and apologies
Lord Clark welcomed all present to the meeting, reminding Partners that the
Partnership would take decisions on the Partnership Plan at the next
meeting on 7 September 2010, when individual organisations would have a
better idea of budgetary implications.
Apologies received from: John Darlington (National Trust), Keith Parker
(Copeland Borough Council), Leslie Johnson( Lakes Parish Council), David
Hunter (NWDA), Roger Roberts (ACT), John Pinder (Environment Agency),
Keith Jones (Forestry Commission), Henry Owen John (English Heritage),
Guy Richardson (CALC) and Roger Liddle (Cumbria Vision).
2
Minutes of meeting held on 11 February 2010
It was agreed the Minutes from the meeting held on 16 November 2009
were agreed, subject to noting that in 6(a) Nuclear Update - Cumbria
County Council were not minded to support the proposals on nuclear energy
sites at Kirksanton and Braystones and the new build at Sellafield.
3
Matters arising
Red Squirrels – Bob Cartwright reported he had attended a Squirrel
Management meeting on 3 June 2010 to agree a co-ordinated plan of
action. Good progress was made and there was now a north of England
initiative. The involvement of the Partnership was welcomed.
4
Climate Change – Training Programme
Becky Willis referred to the draft Partnership’s Plan and their commitment to
a carbon budget for the National Park as a whole, managing the carbon
budget and actions required in order to cut greenhouse gases. The LDNPP
had received funding from the CLASP fund to source the data necessary to
develop the carbon budget working with Partnership members and Mike
Berners Lee of Small World Consulting. The carbon budget was also to be
discussed at the Low Carbon Lake District Summit 2010 on 1 July. Each
Partnership organisation was invited to nominate a representative to take
forward the Partnership’s joint work on developing a carbon budget for the
National Park. The Partnership agreed Becky Willis should circulate
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information to the Partnership inviting nominations to be sent to her by
8 July.
5
Partnership Review and Improvement Plan and 10(b) The Partnership’s
First Annual Report
Steve Ratcliffe reported that when the Partnership was established in 2006,
the Partnership Agreement included a commitment to regular review.
In 2010, Bob Sutcliffe had met with 17 of the 22 Partners to carry out a
review which was summarised. There were significant challenges ahead
and an Improvement Plan for the Partnership highlighted the need to clarify
specific roles and expectations; improving communications about the work
of the Partnership to staff within their organisations; agreeing priorities
within the Partnership’s Plan; moving from the planning together phase to a
delivery of the Partnership’s Plan stage. There was still some confusion
about the relationship the Partnership had with other LSP’s in the county
and the role of the Partnership’s Plan. In paying tribute to the excellent
Chair of the Partnership, Lord Clark, the term of office needed to be made
clear to comply with good practice in governance. There was real
commitment for the Partnership to continue to succeed but some members,
particularly, District Council’s, want to know what was required from them.
Overall the average commitment to the Partnership was eight out of ten.
The Annual Report summarising achievements had been circulated to the
Partnership. The Partnership accepted the review and adopted the
Improvement Plan.
6
The Partnership’s Plan – Update on progress
Mr Sutcliffe drew the Partnership’s attention to item 14 of the Improvement
Plan which concentrated on delivery of the Partnership’s Plan. It suggested
agreeing priorities by focussing on actions which showed success at
different levels such as:



A few things that are easy to deliver
Perhaps one or two challenging things that bring the community
together with some of the Partners working together
Something that would galvanise the whole Partnership
The draft Plan was published on 24 May for public consultation with
comments due by 2 July 2010. The Partnership was asked to consider this
by firstly voting for priorities in the draft Plan. Two meetings were held (“An
Audience with …the Partnership”) at Brockhole and Keswick to highlight the
work of the Partnership to Parish Councils and the general public. The
comments would be collated, considered by a Sub-Group of the Partnership
and changes recommended for adoption by the Partnership at the next
meeting on 7 September 2010. Partners were reminded that the Plan would
be reviewed in 2011. Mr Sutcliffe thanked Richard Greenwood of Cumbria
Tourism, Roger Roberts of ACT, Anthony Bremner of Natural England and
Martyn Staveley of Cumbria Vision for their assistance on the Sub-Group.
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General comments about the Plan were made:
Dr Powell of CWT recommended that the order in the Plan should be
spectacular landscape first and the integration of all of this was essential to
ensure a prosperous economy, vibrant communities and world class visitor
experiences. Angela Coulton of GONW endorsed this highlighting the risks
to the spectacular landscape if there was no sustainable land use. The
Environment Agency, NFU and Natural England were key organisations to
be involved in this process, particularly following the floods in 2009.
Mr Leafe advised that the wording was tactical to talk about the community
and economy first, but purely presentational. Mr Hitchen (Copeland BC)
pointed out that different communities had different priorities, what was
relevant in the NPA did not necessarily apply to the west coast of Cumbria.
The Partnership needed to listen to communities and engage with them by
ensuring members and officers attended local meetings. Mr Sheasby (NFU)
said the landscape was an important product of a profitable economy and
that if that element was not maintained this in turn had a knock on effect for
visitor experiences. Mr Greenwood (Cumbria Tourism) said there was a
need to achieve a balance endorsing the importance of the landscape as
this drew 90% of visitors to the National Park. Lord Clark agreed that
spectacular landscapes may not be first in the document but it was
absolutely at the heart of what the Partnership was trying to achieve. Mr
Ratcliffe confirmed that this would be discussed further by the Sub Group on
6 July. Bill Jefferson (LDNPA) and Marie Fallon (CCC) stressed that
through CLASP and Cumbria County Council it was important for everyone
to work collaboratively and cohesively, despite differences of opinion. It was
particularly important to work together, as funding previously thought of as
“safe” had been reduced.
7
University of Cumbria – Ambleside Campus
Lord Clark welcomed Liz Beaty, Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of
Cumbria to the meeting.
The University of Cumbria was formed from a number of colleges which
itself had presented a challenge, together with a rural and dispersed
population and poor infrastructure. After a review of the University’s estate
and courses in December 2009 it was decided to reduce course delivery at
the Ambleside Campus. The University needed to make more efficiencies,
as problems included:






A lot of programmes very small scale with insufficient numbers of
students
No growth in public funding
Overgrown staffing due to mergers - voluntary severance scheme for
staff now in place
Lack of investment in University’s estate
Poor financial position
The need to run the University sustainably
Between 2013 and 2010, the University was keen to build a strong core as a
regional university with a national reputation for niche areas and an
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LDNP Partnership Meeting
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international reputation as a centre of excellence with strong academic roots
by focusing on:



Education – for teacher training/child based activities (at Lancaster and
Carlisle)
Health and well being – nursing/physiotherapy/radiotherapy and sport
Arts, business and science – (business focussed in Carlisle) and arts
based in Lancaster and Ambleside. Science was linked to agricultural
land based interests.
Students liked working and living in smaller communities but they also
needed to learn in the work place, e.g. outdoor studies with first year at
Ambleside, second year experiential and third year at Newton Rigg. It was
difficult to recruit staff at some sites due to infrastructure. The University
was keen to have base campuses but also gateway sites in partnership with
others, e.g. Energus in west Cumbria, where there was a need to improve
higher education. Other options included attracting national and
international students by creating a leadership centre with international
programmes, e.g. an international hotel and tourism school and a possible
partnership venture to make best use of other buildings by working with
planners.
Carole Hodgson (CLAB) asked if there was any agricultural course at
Newton Rigg. Liz Beaty confirmed the University were reviewing the quality
of the large educational site at Newton Rigg (including National School of
Forestry) but the farms required investment and the University could not
channel funds into the site as they are unable to cross subsidise further
education. Engineering was very important and the University was
considering working with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, NWDA,
UCLAN and Dalton Engineering to improve the skills base, particularly on
the west coast of Cumbria by creating a niche area with sustainable
engineering. There was a big divide between further and higher education
in funding. Dr Powell referred to the role of research and research
excellence and the importance of linking ecosystem services without
despoliation by bringing people together. Liz Beaty explained that there
were tough choices to be made and to support the University’s three new
faculties, research leads had been appointed for research centres.
Lord Clark thanked Liz Beaty for her presentation.
8
Shoreline Management and Lyth Valley
Iain Gold, on behalf of Lee Swift of the Environment Agency, provided an
overview of the shoreline management plans (SMP) which focussed on the
cycles and patterns bringing in the tides according to the seasons, e.g.
particularly high Spring tides put people and properties at risk. Some of the
statistics included:
30% of the population lived within 10km of the coast providing significant
social impact to infrastructure and life. 70% of fossil fuel generating
capacity and nuclear power is along the coasts. Over 45% of the UK spend
by tourism on the shoreline resulted in significant high economic impacts,
e.g. cost to maintain or not maintain sea defences, industry, tourism and
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agriculture; UK estuaries represent 28% of intertidal areas in North West
Europe with impacts on climate change.
The Environment Agency leads all sea flooding risk management in terms of
the strategic overview for managing coastal flood risk and coastal erosion,
providing priorities and funds for sea flooding and coastal protection works.
Local Authorities remain the lead responsible for coastal erosion. Coastal
Groups, a voluntary partnership, including Natural England, help to deliver
SMP policy (a long term sustainable affordable coastal flood and erosion
strategy).
Under SMP, decisions had to be taken on what, if any, intervention was
taken, e.g. Eskmeals, and this provided a good opportunity for the
Environment Agency, South Copeland and NPA Officers to work together
with the local community.
Due to time constraints, Lord Clark thanked Iain Gold for his presentation
and it was agreed that the Environment Agency should be invited to a future
meeting to discuss the Lyth Valley.
9
River Restoration Project – Natural England and Environment Agency
Lord Clark introduced Paul Glading of Natural England and David Brown of
Environment Agency.
Paul Glading gave a presentation on the physically modified sections of
river can be managed better including highlighting the work carried out,
using field data assessment prioritisation and partner approach. DEFRA
had a target of restoring 95% of SSSI’s by the end of December 2010. In
assessing the condition of an SSSI, decisions were required whether to
maintain or restore the river but also the need to make rivers function more
naturally such as disconnection from flood plains and removal of sediment.
The Partnership’s Plan highlighted the need to:



Strike a balance between protecting communities and the landscape
from flooding
Climate change – mitigation/adaptation
Scoping – the scale of the modification and the effects on river
function, restoration targets and constraints on restoration
David Brown explained the Environment Agency were responsible for civil
defence works and the geomorphological mapping of rivers, e.g. looking at
how rivers work, sediment, river banks, tributaries and drains. These were
then assessed under different categories:


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
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Significant channel restoration, e.g. nowhere for sediment to flow
Natural recovery e.g. channel modified to rework these into a more
stable plant form to enable natural plant form recovery
Continued natural recovery – allows the river enough room to do this
Categorisation of reaches – map demonstrates how rivers have been
modified
Restoration plan – provides details of restoration work required if river
breached
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LDNP Partnership Meeting
28 June 2010
Assisted natural recovery – demonstrates how much adjustment
required
GIS viewer – information used in field in talking to farmers
Restoration vision – shows how the river looks and how it might
function in the future in terms of sediment, habitat and interaction
between the river and flood plain
Substantial costs would be incurred (£260M) restoring three rivers, e.g.
Derwent, Eden and Kent. Proposed solutions were to provide the river with
more space by creating an erodible corridor zone, with a demonstration site
using Jacob’s expertise to reduce pressure by removing modifications not
required and changing the river management.
Lord Clark thanked Paul Glading and David Brown for their presentations
and asked that this information be given to the Farming and Land Use
Working Party to discuss further.
Lord Clark explained to the Partnership that this was the last occasion that
Bob Sutcliffe would be attending the Partnership meeting. Bob had been
the driving force for the Partnership and was leaving the LDNPA to become
a teacher. The Partnership thanked Bob for his tremendous work and
wished him every success in his new career.
10
11
Any Other Business
(a)
Update on Environment Land Management Service (ELMS)
Steve Ratcliffe explained the report circulated to the Partnership. This
demonstrated one of the benefits of LDNPP in terms of partnership
working between LDNPA and Natural England. This had proved a
resounding success with the National Trust coming on board to take
on the higher level schemes.
(b)
The Partnership’s First Annual Report
Please see under 5 (Partnership Review and Improvement Plan).
Year of Biodiversity 2010 (Flora of the Fells)
Simon Webb of Natural England updated the Partnership on the Flora of
Fells project which started in 2002, initially involving Friends of the Lake
District and Natural England and more recently LDNPA through the SDF
fund. Miniature Lakeland also involved looking at different business
ventures. Flora of the Fells provided an opportunity to celebrate, reconnect
people with the uplands and education through events (for teachers and
children). Feedback from Flora of the Fells indicated that 72% learned
something from the event they attended, 50% intended to change their
behaviours, 48% intended to buy more local food and 69% were more
aware of how farm and food were connected. This also highlighted what the
uplands did for individuals/public benefits, sustainability and climate change
messages. The SDF provided funds to produce the booklet “Mission
Possible?” which offered powerful imagery for school work and provided a
host of educational strategy. These funds were also used to create a
website. Thanks were due to Clive Wickham of LDNPA for his support.
Flora of the Fells Festival 2010 hosted 180 events with climate change in
ten cluster areas to involve local communities in Kendal, Ambleside,
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Windermere and Keswick, including links to public transport. 2010
International Year of Biodiversity – a year of celebration and co-ordination of
actions created by United Nations. Lord Clark thanked Simon for his
excellent and enthusiastic presentation, providing ideas of how to get
messages across. The project was actively looking for funding, having
relied on Friends of the Lake District and Natural England, especially to
promote the celebratory and educational side.
Lord Clark left the meeting due to another commitment and Steve Ratcliffe
acted as Chair.
Cumbria Wildfire Group
Darrin Woods explained the Group was formed through a partnership of
public and private sector organisations working together to try and address
the increasing wildfire risk as a result of climate change. Based on the
Northumberland Fire Group model, the Group was started in 2008 through
Rural Development Initiatives. The Group was formed due to a lack of
existing mechanisms and resources available to deal with wildfire issues in
Cumbria with three main targets:



Reduction
Readiness
Response
The Group includes: Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, Forestry Commission,
LDNPA, MOD/Landmarc, Natural England, CLAB, United Utilities, Moorland
Association, CCC, National Trust, Landowners and Gamekeepers with
Rural Development Initiatives acting as Secretariat.
28 Fire Plans created to date, with training courses to improve knowledge,
safety and efficiency of wildfire response. The SDF provided funds for
nearly 100 people to attend basic wildfire fire fighting and advanced wildfire
fire fighting. Workshops were also planned.
The Group had used live fire in controlled situations to improve skills and
training of members through familiarisation of equipment, testing the system
and procedures. Promoting the Group continued through press releases,
advertising campaigns, display panels at events, newsletters and the first
forum meeting held in March 2010 provided an opportunity for networking.
The Group were keen to promote standard operating procedures, adopting
best practice and information sharing. The Group works largely due to the
commitment from the Fire and Rescue Service and the willingness of
Partners to work together. The SDF had provided £15,000 for the first two
years of operation. The Group were also trying to source funding through
sponsorship of events and obtaining equipment from suppliers. Steve
Ratcliffe thanked Darrin Woods for his presentation.
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Cumbria Woodlands
Steve Ratcliffe introduced Neville Elstone from Cumbria Woodlands. The
SDF provided support for this project which provided:



Wood fuel – created 400 jobs by adapting/adopting
Woodlands – under threat with diversity of age, species and
disturbance
Social – woodlands very important to the original green infrastructure
64,160ha woodland; 24,517ha in Forestry Commission ownership and
18,089ha in management.
Wood fuel boilers can be filled once a day and offer huge storage of heat.
Many of the rural population have high energy costs, not on gas but high
cost of oil, which provided a huge opportunity to use wood fuel, generate
grant schemes to manage woodlands. The Green Build Fortnight created
an opportunity for people to look at new technologies, demonstrating how
wood fuel worked and provide advisory information on capital costs,
revenue costs and pay back. For example, the Langdale Hotel had high
fuel bills for running the hotel complex and swimming pool, but having got
grant aid to install a boiler should receive pay back in three years. Cumbria
Woodlands successfully assisted applicants in obtaining £800,000 in
national grant aid and over 50% of the regional investment of £1.6M of
capital investment. Cumbria Woodlands provided advice to suppliers of
wood chips and fire wood merchants to obtain grant aid via SDF, as well as
working with the forestry owners to improve the supply chain by supporting
local communities and organisations such as Bassenthwaite Reflections.
There were huge opportunities in Cumbria to push this forward in the future.
Cumbria Woodlands had just produced a report on the value of woodlands
in flood alleviation. Approximately half of our woodland was managed with
costs dictated by the price of competitor fuels. The original carbon capture
scheme still had huge potential for support in the future but Cumbria
Woodlands were working very closely with local action groups delivering
economic development locally. Wood fuel supplies had grown by 30%.
Steve Ratcliffe thanked Neville Elstone for his excellent presentation and
Clive Wickham for organising the SDF presentations.
12. Date of Next Meeting: 7 September 2010
Steve Ratcliffe thanked the Partnership for their contributions to the meeting.
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