So, off to a meeting about the future of the Eastern Moors this evening. For many drivers this is an area that you pass through on the way to the honeypots of the Peak District-  Bakewell, Chatsworth and so forth. But for slower travellers, walkers and of course cyclists, it is an area to linger and enjoy. How often have you ‘just popped out’ and done a quick spin  perhaps taking in Fox House, Owler Bar and perhaps over to Pudding Pie Hill and back through Holmesfield or maybe taken the dog for a walk over Houndkirk?

That’s the area we are talking about. Previously owned and managed by the Peak Park authority, it is now to be managed by a partnership of the National Trust and the RSPB. Hmm I hear you say  – is this privatisation by the back door? Well maybe, but the new team are full of enthusiasm for increasing biodiversity and improving sustainable access. I was able to throw some thoughts at them about cycle access, and of course the MTB’ers were there in force – the area is rich in challenging MTB trails. The new partnership is also interested in managing the neighbouring moors to the north, owned by Sheffield City Council, and it has to be said that management of these moors could have been better over the years.

A lot of familiar questions were thrown at the team – what about motorised off-roaders, parking on verges, public transport – which the team fielded pretty well.

This was part of a series of consultations the partnership is undertaking – there’s a feedback session at Losehill Hall on Sept 11, and there is likely to be a set of user groups set up following that .  It was good to be able to revisit the work we did on this a few years back, with people some of whom sadly are no longer with us, with perhaps a chance to finally make the aspirations we identified back then real.