Chairman’s Report

John Asher
 JOURNAL 
 2015 
 North Craven 
 Heritage Trust 

If attendance at our talks and events is anything to go by, your Trust is in good heart. Our talented guides and speakers have led us from Bronze Age cemeteries to contemporary quarrying; we have followed early modern dispute maps and the footsteps of Turner. All our talks and outings have been well-supported and there is much to interest your friends who are not yet members of the Trust: do invite them along! A key objective of the Trust is to secure the protection of historic features such Linton Court and the Police Station in Settle. We also make representations about current planning issues such as inappropriate advertising hoardings and residential developments. This year we have been greatly exercised by the lack of agreed Local Plans: at the time of writing the National Park Authority is about to issue its final draft, but the plan for Craven District appears far from being finalised. We have submitted comments to both consultation processes and shall continue to scrutinise and, if necessary, challenge the plans until they are finalised. We have supported the Yorkshire Dales Green Lanes Alliance in its efforts, along with other groups representing countryside interests, to secure appropriate legal protection for our green lanes from degradation by recreational motor vehicles. This has resulted in an encouraging commitment from the Coalition Government, with cross-party support, to set up a Stakeholder Working Group to report on the future of green lanes within 18 months; we now have to ensure that the new government will respect this. Our landscape, with its particular flora, fauna and buildings, is truly special, as visitors will quickly tell you. The challenge for us is to safeguard it as a living landscape for future generations. Finally, very many thanks to all of you who support the work of the Trust in so many ways - by editing and delivering this Journal, collecting subscriptions, raising advertising revenue, posting notices, maintaining the website, making teas, moving furniture and especially to those whose studies and publications add to the wonderful story of North Craven. Thank you all.

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