Walkers and climbers are being called upon by the British Mountaineering Council to sign a petition which will safeguard future access to one of Derbyshire’s most popular crags, Stanage Edge.
The campaign ‘Stand up for Stanage’ has been created as a result of the current uncertainty of the Peak District National Park Authority regarding the North Lees Estate, which houses large proportions of Stanage and its surrounding moorland. Due to financial constraints the authority are looking to generate more income from the estate, but the BMC are concerned this could become a priority over conserving freedom of access to the crag.
The petition calls on the PDNPA to accept the BMC’s charter for the future management of Stanage which states that the North Lees Estate is on Open Access Land and any commercial enterprise must not impede the spirit of access for all, that the publicly-owned estate must be retained forever for everyone and should never be fragmented, and that any revenue raised from the estate should be reinvested into the landscape.
RELATED LINKS:
www.change.org
Photo Credit: Kerry Cooper