CPRENorthYorkshire AGM 2019
The first AGM of our CIO charity - the theme...for this generation and the next!
On Saturday, 13 April, CPRENorthYorkshire held it's Annual General Meeting to present the accounts and endorse the trustee board for 2019/2020.
We're always talking about campaigning for this generation and the next so we decided it was time to do something positive about it and invite the next generation along! The winners of the 2019 School Writing competition and their families came along to the meeting. This will not be the last time we listen to those we are campaigning for!
Summer, Nyima and Evie received their prizes from our President, Lord Crathorne.
Roger Haffield was presented with his prize for taking the winning photograph in our annual photography competition (do check out our instagram page, there's a link to it on the home page) Ron Healey was presented with an award for totally outstanding contribution to CPRENorthYorkshire and working for this charity as a volunteer for over 40 years.
The Board was endorsed and the accounts accepted by the members.
We had a good story to tell and did so ... Loud and Proud.
Hellifield Flashes
REFUSED UNANIMOUSLY BY PLANNING COMMITTEE 25 MARCH 2019
10 YEAR BATTLE BY CPRENORTHYORKSHIRE AND SOCC nears the end
WE'RE READY FOR THE APPEAL!
The Official recommendation for the Hellifield holiday camp application is that planning permission should be refused.. A 51 page officer report shows the conviction behind this decision.
Ingrained in the identity of these villages is the annual migratory air show as great formations of birds come in to land on these flashes. Many of these birds are on the RSPB’s red and amber lists. As if that isn’t enough, this beloved place is home to colonies of great crested newts for which there is law that it makes if an offence to intentionally destroy breeding or terrestrial habitat.
Local people are proud of this area and it’s under persistent threat
This landscape is much more than a home to wildlife. Hellifield is a living village with a beating heart and a strong sense of community. Families walk these footpaths, children learn to ride their bikes here and go skidding on the ice in cold weather. A generation ago the flashes were home to the Hellifield Beck Jumpers who built dens, sledged and played on this land.
The latest application to build lodges and cinemas alongside an existing trailer park has been a long hard battle. Swimming Pools, Park & Ride and a Hotel & Spa when there is already one 5 miles away makes no sense. These flashes were once recommended as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC). This large area of open countryside has been the subject of numerous applications since the 1990s.
We were honoured to have Stephen Butcher as a member, a mentor and a friend. Stephen used to be a member of both Craven and the Yorkshire Dales National Park planning committees. On each one of the dark nights when it seemed the odds were so against us, we’d ask:
“What would Stephen do?”
It’s really very simple. He’d tell us to get on with it and stop feeling sorry for ourselves! Whilst Stephen is no longer with us, his spirit lives on, we can only try to honour his belief that the Flashes could be saved. So we continue and we’ll do so until the land known as the Hellifield Flashes is saved from this enormous development.
Save Our Craven Countryside and CPRENorthYorkshire have burned the midnight oil, laughed and cried together over the last year or so. They know the local community, they know the history of the landscape, we know planning. Together we’ve mounted a strong campaign to alert people to the importance of landscape, nature and community.
The recommendation by Craven District Council’s planners is welcomed by CPRENorthYorkshire.
The fate of this precious landscape now lies with the Planning Committee who will decide on Monday.
The planning report clearly gives 51 pages of reasons why this application should be refused, there’s just one more… because Stephen believed it should be refused and he was always right!
The power point below was sent to us by a Hellifield resident Mrs S Gregory
Grundy Farm in Carleton - recommended for approval by Craven District Planners!
We provided sufficient evidence to endorse refusal of this application in a conservation area in Carleton in the Craven District authority area (see the pdf attachment). However, local residents have contacted CPRENorthYorkshire recently expressing their disbelief that this application has been recommended for approval next week at the Planning Committee meeting in Skipton.
If Carleton has sufficient permissions under the "very advanced local plan" for the next 20 years and Craven can show a five year supply and there are sufficient material reasons to refuse this application....why is it recommended for approval? More executive homes are just not needed. More destruction of conservation areas in Craven is not needed.
REFUSED BY PLANNING COMMITTEE AGAINST OFFICER RECOMMENDATION
AGM 2019 - it's a date!
13 April, 1.30 The Old Swan Harrogate (subject to change please watch the web site).
The first AGM of the newly formed Charitable Incorporated Organisation CPRENorthYorkshire!
Meet the trustees, see what we've achieved, hear what we are doing and where we are going.....
More information to follow as speakers finalised.....
Drop a caravan in an AONB, start building and forget about planning permission!
Scackleton in the Howardian Hills AONB
Last June, we were contacted by a number of local people because they were shocked to find a static caravan had been placed in a field in their village and works started (concreting, water connection, gateway etc). On investigation we found that no planning permission had been applied for! Now that's just not right. Whether it's the middle of city or the middle of a protected area WE ALL must follow the rules and apply for planning permission. So we contacted the local council to find out what was going on... they issued a temporary stop notice.
CPRENorthYorkshire commissioned a heritage and conservation report by a well respected expert.
An appeal by the developers of this site then followed, a dismissal of that appeal by the planning inspectorate soon followed that.
You just cannot decide you want to build somewhere and start without gaining all the necessary approvals.
We responded to requests for help from local people and supported them and the local parish council (the first tier of local government) to ensure that this development in an AONB and Conservation area was stopped.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - take part in the Cosmic Census!
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (s)
It's time to count the stars!
We've been gazing at the stars since time began, we've worshipped them, we used them to navigate and we've been inspired by them
From Shakespeare to Coldplay - the stars have inspired.
To see the stars, we need dark skies.
Dark skies can be degraded by light pollution.
We need dark skies - we need night and day!
Natures natural rhythm depends on night skies - for migration, for feeding and for reproduction
As dark skies mark the difference between night and day, they also mark the difference between urban and rural landscapes.
We are so very lucky in North Yorkshire to have some of the darkest skies in the country. Right now CPRE are running the annual star count.
Wrap up warm, get outside and count the stars
our national web site will show you how ....
Anyone can do it, any where.
Take a good long look at the skies above - the views are so, so beautiful on a clear night.
Take part in CPRE's annual star count and help us map the dark sky areas of England.
We use Star Count to gather evidence about how light pollution affects views of the night skies and help support our work to tackle excessive or unnecessary lighting.
When you wish up on a star ......
Take part in the Cosmic census!
https://www.cpre.org.uk/…/countr…/dark-skies/star-count-2019
