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Thu 11 Jan 2018, 10:35
Thank you Richard and Claire
This kind of discussion is exactly what I was hoping for
To answer Claire
The constitution of any National Park Authority would be just one of the things to decide if this went ahead
As Richard points out at the moment the Cotswold Conservation Board has members who are appointed in three ways
Parish Council Nominees like myself are elected firstly onto a Parish Council, then when there is a vacancy there is a further election as representative of a large number of Parish Councils in my case I was not contested
Local Authority nominees are either District or County Councillors who will also have been elected
Finally we have Secretary of State nominees not elected but have to demonstrate considerable relevant expertise
In my experience this works very well. We all sit on various Committees including (as for me the Executive)
When we meet it is usually not obvious which group we are in and you are only aware of considerable expertise and experience with bodies such as DEFRA, Natural Trust Natural England etc
This system could remain for a National Park as there is no legislation preventing that.
Also very important in my view is that unlike many District or County Councillors there is no party politics at all and we are all free to talk and vote representing our views and those of the community we serve.
Of course in my own position I am much better informed about Charlbury issues tan for places at the other side of the Cotswolds but then they also have their own representatives
As far as planning in a National Park goes although many are the planning Authority in their own right they do not have to be.
In the South Downs (where a realative of mine works in fact) much planning is delegated back to District Councils but they are then answerable to the National Park. It would be for any new National Park to decide the best model for themselves.
One criticism of National Parks is that planning is too restrictive but in practice they have a very high percentage of applications approved generally much higher than district authorities . This is probably down to the fact that applicants usually have prolonged discussion before submitting the application.
For the Cotswolds I would see one advantage in that a consistent policy across the National Park would apply which in the case of Charlbury may well be more suitable than one which covers Oxfordshire
For reference our members are listed at
www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/about-us/board-members/
and our meetings which are all open to the public at
www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/about-us/board-meetings/board-meetings-calendar/
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