I joined the National Park Authority in 1982 and I have had the pleasure of working in the park for most of my career. As an archaeologist my passion is understanding and preserving the historic environment but I have also been fortunate to contribute to planning and mineral development, farming, communities, landscape, climate change and cultural heritage. I was delighted to be elected to serve as Chair of the National Park Authority in July and I would like to thank Andrew McCloy for all he has done for the Peak District over his tenure as previous Chair of Authority.

Our national parks have a multiplicity of local, regional and national issues that impact upon them. This is perhaps no more evident than here in the Peak District where there is a constant balancing act between the needs of the visitor, those who live, work and do business here, and the duties rightly placed upon us as an authority to safeguard landscapes and our natural and cultural heritage in the face of global issues such as climate change.

This Performance and Business Plan reports our first year (2023/24) of progress against our five-year Authority Plan. The organisational review has allowed the Authority to move forward and we celebrate many successes as we look back over the past twelve months but our year two plan is ambitious and remains challenging especially as we are delivering to budgets that are without question reducing significantly in real terms.

A significant part of our work is our contribution to the National Park Management Plan (NPMP) which is a partnership plan delivered in collaboration with partner organisations and local communities. Some key successes from year one including delivering the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) project; the ongoing moorland restoration works by the Moors for the Future partnership; and the success of the Peak District Foundation in raising almost £0.5 million.

Successful delivery of the NPMP relies on strong partnerships and we have just chaired a meeting of senior leaders to help ensure the NPMP remains relevant to partners and that focus and commitment to delivery is maintained was we embark on year two of the plan. Together as a partnership we can achieve the vision as we deliver the four aims which seek to balance the ongoing pressures between communities, visitors and nature, influenced by key external factors such as climate change and the need for continuing nature recovery.

I look forward to working with the many engaged staff, volunteers, partners and communities as we continue with our bold ambitions for the Peak District and seek to care for its special qualities and the resident and visiting communities and their natural and cultural heritage.

Ken Smith Chair