Residents Survey

The Peak District National Park Authority has carried out residents surveys in 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2019.

The surveys are carried out in order to:

• Engage with a representative sample of Peak District residents
• Understand current resident perceptions and opinions of the Peak District National Park and the Peak District National Park Authority
• Establish trends (when compared with past residents surveys)
• Provide baseline information on new indicators
• Inform Peak District National Park Authority planning and customer service functions
• Inform policy decisions.

Surveys typically get around 1,000 responses from a sample of residents that is as representative as possible. However, in all years it has been difficult to reach enough people of a younger age, despite specific efforts to address this. Until 2019, all surveys were a postal self-completion paper survey mailed to a representative spread of Peak District households. In 2019, the method was changed to a telephone survey, as this is a more common survey technique today and offers more scope for targeting specific samples of people (e.g. younger people). In 2019, more young people were reached than in past surveys, but this was still lower than the intended sample size.

Latest data from the 2019 survey found that:

Views on living in the Peak District

The majority of respondents said that the Peak District was definitely a good place to live (79%) and a further 19% said it was a good place to live to some extent. The reasons given for why the Peak District is a good place to live in typically focused on the beautiful area and varied scenery, countryside and views. Negative reasons suggested for why the Peak District may not be a good place to live included the number of tourists and traffic, lack of opportunities for younger people, and the restrictions imposed by the Peak District National Park Authority.

Environmentally friendly behaviours

The most popular environmentally friendly home-related action taken by respondents whilst living in the Peak District National Park was adding insulation (54%), with much smaller proportions indicating that they had sourced their electricity from a ‘green’ or ‘renewables’ tariff (21%) or installed renewable energy features (10%). However, the proportion who had sourced their electricity from a ‘green’ or ‘renewables’ tariff has increased from 10% in 2012, to 12% in 2016, to 21% in 2019.

Getting involved in the local community

In terms of activities undertaken by residents in the Peak District, almost three in ten respondents said they volunteered in their local area (28%). By far the most popular activity in the National Park is walking (79%), followed by cycling (27%).

The impact of tourism and recreation

The typical reaction of respondents was positive. The majority of respondents agreed that visitors to the Peak District create income and jobs through visitor expenditure (89%), that they help maintain rural services like buses, village shops and post offices (66%), and that the benefits of tourism outweigh the negative impacts (69%). However, the majority also agreed that visitors cause traffic congestion and pollution (69%) and damage to the landscape (60%).

Residents use of public transport

In total, 66% of respondents used public transport (14% often, 20% sometimes, 32% rarely). When compared with previous years, the use of public transport has fallen (78% in 2012, 77% in 2016). The most common reason for rarely or never using public transport was it being easier or more convenient to travel by car (59%).