## **North Yorkshire Moors Association Trustees' Report 2022-2023** ## **1 October 2022 – 30 September 2023** Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Registered Charity Number 1169240 Address: c/o Glen Cottage, Carr Lane, Scalby, Scarborough YO13 0SB President of the Association: Ian Carstairs OBE ## **Trustees at 30 September 2023** Tom Chadwick Ray Clarke Albert Elliot Helen Gundry Adrian Leaman (Chair) Brian Pearce (Hon. Treasurer) Tom Ratcliffe Colin Speakman Andy Wilson George Winn-Darley (Vice-chair) Elaine Wisdom ## **Executive Secretary:** **J** anet Cochrane The ‘Council’ is the body which manages NYMA. In addition to the Trustees, there is one Council member - the Executive Secretary - who is not a Trustee. Council members are nominated and seconded by members and elected at the AGM for a three-year term of office, along with the Chair and Vice-Chair who are elected on an annual basis. NYMA has a Council representative on the Council of the Campaign for National Parks (CNP). ## **What we do** - As 'Friends of the North York Moors', NYMA works to safeguard the landscapes, biodiversity and culture of the North York Moors National Park and surrounding areas. - We scrutinise and influence planning applications for developments in the National Park and campaign against inappropriate ones. - We support sustainable means of transport. - We carry out projects which foster understanding of the history, culture and environment of the Moors. - We encourage land-use policies that favour biodiversity and natural beauty. - We support campaigns for the protection and enhancement of landscapes in National Parks and beyond. - We publish ‘Voice of the Moor’, a quarterly journal. 1 of 5 ## **Introduction** Given the changes to governance and administration introduced in 2021-2022, the past year has been concerned with consolidation as well as engaging in a variety of activities. The Trustees have an exceptional range of knowledge and experience which we are able to draw on in dealing with the many policy challenges that affect the North York Moors and National Parks nationally, and they also carry out practical activities. ## **ACTIVITIES, PROJECTS AND EVENTS** **Battle of Byland Memorial:** A highlight of the year was the Battle of Byland 700th anniversary commemoration in October 2022 at Sutton Bank, which included the unveiling of the battlefield memorial. NYMA was key to facilitating this through our energetic support for the project and the legacy of Professor Allan Patmore. **National Parks Societies Conference 2022:** Adrian Leaman attended the annual National Parks Societies Conference on behalf of NYMA. This was held in Snowdonia in October 2022 and was concerned primarily with the reforms and projects stimulated by the Welsh Government’s enlightened treatment of their landscapes and environment. **Voice of the Moors:** 'Voice', now at issue no. 152, is an enduring and respected record of remarkable quality under the editorship of Janet Cochrane. It is distributed not only to NYMA members (paper copies or digitally) but also to Members and employees of the National Park Authority, as well as being on sale to members of the public, with back copies available online. Topics covered are broad in scope and include natural history, culture and social history, practical conservation and walking, and policy. We would like to record our thanks to Pascal Thivillon and Nicola Chalton, of Basement Press in Glaisdale, for their invaluable and voluntary support on the production side of 'Voice', and to the many contributory authors and photographers. **Online ‘Meet the Members’ winter socials:** We have made greater efforts to involve our members as a resource and to create a better sense of community, partly through introducing online ‘Meet the Members’ socials. These were experimental to give our members a winter social activity. Instead of having guest speakers from outside NYMA, we drew the guests from our own membership. It was fascinating and inspiring to hear life stories from Ian Carstairs, Jamie Walton, Kate Ashbrook, Janet Cochrane and Colin Speakman. The socials were well-attended and well-received. They will continue in winter 2023/4, on the first Tuesday of the month at 7pm. **Walks and Events** : NYMA’s programme of monthly walks has continued, often centred on the history of the areas where the walks take place, and overseen by Dave Moore. The extraordinarily wet weather during some months unfortunately played its part in disrupting some and causing cancellations in others. We thank the walk leaders including Albert Elliot, Jane Ellis, Kath Mair, Dave and Cal Moore, and Wendy Smith for their support and commitment. December 2022 saw our annual Christmas get-together of people active in the walking group, Trustees, and other members. **Talks and Recruitment:** Led by Ray Clarke with Janet Cochrane also contributing, NYMA has a vigorous talks programme. Sixteen presentations were made across Northeast Yorkshire and the York area to groups such as the Women’s Institute and Probus, often with audiences of 50 or more people. NYMA also had a presence at local agricultural and country shows: Duncombe Park, Thornton Le Dale, Kildale and Castleton. These events 2 of 5 help not only to raise some much-needed funds for NYMA, but also to raise awareness of the importance of the North York Moors as a protected landscape. The talks have raised over £1100 in the past year. **Conservation Awards** : We have contributed to the construction of the fascinating drystone wall maze in Dalby Forest and to the Community Earth Festival run by Nicola Chalton in April-June 2023, covering the Esk Valley area and beyond. We have also given further support to the Moorsbus programme, both to support the bus schedule and to facilitate access by less physically able people. **Moorsbus** : NYMA continues to support Moorsbus at a time when their services are needed more than ever. The relentless undermining of rural transport makes their task harder and their future more perilous. We thank NYMA Trustee Helen Gundry for her work for Moorsbus. **Hands-on conservation:** Some Council members work with other local groups, such as the Ryedale Bridleways Group, to maintain and clear public rights-of-way in the National Park. ## **PLANNING AND POLICY** **Campaign for National Parks:** NYMA has engaged more fully with the Campaign for National Parks (CNP) events and campaigns over the period with particular focus on the planning and environmental topics most of concern in the Moors area. These include a watching brief on National Marine Parks, the Teesport Freeport development, rural transport, projects concerned with carbon capture and storage, renewable energy planning, and more. Where possible, we field representation at CNP’s events, especially those that are held online, and make active contributions. **Government's response to the Landscapes Review:** Continuing from 2022, NYMA has commented to Defra on its response to the 2021 Landscapes Review of National Parks and AONBs (the ‘Glover Report’). In the current era of rapid, unpredictable change, it is vital that NYMA has a clear understanding of what we consider to be the special qualities of our area of interest and upcoming threats to it. We prefer a realistic case-by-case approach to, for example, wildfires, flooding, access, public transport, affordable housing, population decline, privatisation and tourism. **Government’s proposals on permissive development changes affecting National Parks:** NYMA responded to the recent request for comments by saying: “This is a destructive proposal socially, economically and environmentally which the North Yorkshire Moors Association deplores. You say that you wish to 'support the delivery of the right homes in the right places across England'. But liberalising planning controls in National Parks to allow changes in use on buildings such as barns and other traditional buildings not only undermines the ethos of landscape protection; targets the wrong buildings, in the wrong places, for the wrong people; and threatens the ability of National Park administrations to function coherently in the public interest. As one of our members has said: "If someone had written a policy to destroy a National Park, the Government's proposal would be it". We fully support the views of the North York Moors National Park and the Campaign for National Parks in condemning these proposals. We should also add that publishing these consultation documents in the middle of the holiday season in August puts the voluntary sector, especially, at a considerable disadvantage in providing a detailed and considered response.” ## **FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP** 3 of 5 **Finance** : NYMA’s finances have been stable in recent years with a good cash reserve, although we are aware that any further ambitions will require new sources of finance. Areas under regular review include the potential for more legacies, partnering more closely with other organisations on joint projects, an expanded membership, grant aid, book sales, greater efforts to secure donations, help and ideas from our existing members, plus several more. Many members generously add donations when they renew their memberships, and through the connections of one of our Trustees – a fell-runner - we were delighted to receive a generous donation from the Esk Valley Fell Club https://eskvalleyfellclub.org/. **Officers of NYMA:** Mid-way through the year our Hon. Treasurer of ten years’ standing, Brian Pearce, announced his intention to stand down at the next AGM. After a long search, we were pleased to be able to find someone to step into Brian’s shoes, and have accordingly appointed Vic Worrall, a retired local businessman who has long been active in the charity sector. The process of handover is under way. We have not unfortunately been able to find a Membership Secretary to replace Cal Moore so Janet Cochrane has taken over this function for the time being, with the technical support of Adrian Leaman. **Membership** : Membership numbers are currently 370 in total. They fall into the following categories: Life: 38 Life (Joint): 60 Annual: 169 Annual (Joint): 95 Annual Digital, Individual and Joint (UK and International): 26 10-Year: 57 10-Year (Joint): 16 Organisations and Businesses: 5 Honorary: 4 Because of rising inflation, the Life categories for new members were abolished in accordance with the resolution passed at the October 2022 AGM. _They remain for existing Life members._ Some Life members have kindly renewed in the 10-Year categories or made additional donations to cover costs. Our ambition is to increase member numbers because these are our primary source of regular income. At present the position is stable with little change year-on-year. Given the current economic climate in Britain this could probably be claimed as an achievement, but we view it more as a challenge for next year. NYMA’s online membership system (https://membermojo.co.uk/nyma/) has been in use for over a year. The transfer from the previous system has been smooth for the most part. Although the majority of our members use browsers on their computers and smartphones and have email addresses, there are members who prefer to stay with older methods, and NYMA continues to accommodate non-computer users, though we prefer to use the online system as it saves us money. We are happy to provide assistance should members need it. **Other points of note:** NYMA makes occasional use of three social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in addition to its website and emailed newsletter. NYMA website: https://www.nyma.org.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildaboutthemoors/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nymoorsassoc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBfMZ6ObPJ3skKNogQx6GqQ 4 of 5 ## **OUTLOOK** This report was written soon after the month of September 2023 was declared as the greatest climate anomaly ever experienced worldwide. Given that we are experiencing three global crises - climate change, biodiversity collapse and food security - all of which affect our local landscape and economy to a greater or lesser extent, what action is NYMA taking? Our main response in 2023-24 is to partner with the Carstairs Countryside Trust (CCT), the prime mover of ‘WeCan’, a nature recovery project aimed at raising awareness and changing behaviour of ordinary people in local communities. The places ‘WeCan’ works in at present include Harleston in Norfolk, villages in the Lower Derwent Valley, and (potentially) communities in the North York Moors and its vicinity. WeCan takes a simple, non-bureaucratic approach which aims to be inclusive for grassroots individuals and smaller organisations who, like NYMA, do not have the resources to engage with bigger-budget projects. Some members will - remember a previous joint initiative with CCT, the Cornfield Flowers project (https://cctorg.uk/cornfield flowers/). Deliberately a simple proposition, WeCan tackles the most demanding problem of all - changing human habits and behaviour to create a better balanced and less damaged natural environment in order to bring back species abundance. In 2022-23 we spent a lot of time engaging with policy issues affecting protected landscapes, including comments on the Landscapes Review and more recently threats of changes to the planning laws affecting National Parks (as described above). What’s next? As well as species diversity loss, climate change, and the hollowing out of small-scale agriculture, we can add the lack of affordable housing in National Parks, the continuing loss of population in Moors villages, the threat of Freeport liberalisation within National Park boundaries, the prospect of calls for new Marine National Parks, and the possibility that a new designation may be in store for the Yorkshire Wolds, just to the south of the North York Moors. Any or all of these, and more, may become live topics for campaigning or project development in the near future. NYMA AL/JC October 2023 5 of 5 The North Yorkshire Moors Association CIO No: 1169240 Financial Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2023 Paul Tranter & Company Chartered Accountants stokesley North Yorkshire TS9 SAD (HARITY COMMISSION Independent Examinerfs Report on the Accounts Section A Independenl Examinei's Repoft Repori 10 the tru5tees/tnernbet5 C (kn a(counts kn the yeat Lythd EllCJllEIKI Charity tK) any) Setwlollp Re5pth Iewslbi￿ti￿ of tnr5tees ond The charltys truslees ale rewn5ible loi IhE preparation ol the aiiounls. The charity's iiusiees ionsmlei Ihat an audit 15 not iequiied for this year ￿nder seiiion 43(21 ol Ihe Charrittes Art 1993 (the 1993 Attl and Ihat an independent examifiation is needed. It is my re¥thskbilily lo.. examine the 3[(￿￿￿ urmler 5￿tI(￿ 43 of Ihe 1993 Ali. 10 lollow ihe ￿￿eduleS raid dow¢t in Ihe general th'reclions given by the Charity CoFllffl￿510n (under seition 4317llb) of the 1993 Act. and siaie ¥Whe1h￿ particulai mattels have (offle lo ffly allention. 88sI5 01 l￿dent examWssWtht My exafflinatw was wied wi in ac(OrdaTr￿ with general Oireclions giveTr by the Charily Cofftrnission. An examinatiofi in(1￿Je$ a wlew of ihe accounting ieioid5 kepl by Ihe chariiy and a compaiisffi of the at(ounts pie5enlEd wilh those ieioids. It a150 incI￿@S (onsidwèlitsn of any ￿usual Item5 Ot ¢Ji5d05Ute5 in the accoun15, and seeking plaBaliorfj the Iwustee5 conceining atry 51Kh mattets. The piocedures undertaken dD not pro￿de all the ewdenie that would be iequiied in an audit. and (onsequently opinion ￿ given a5 lo whelhei the acwnts ￿esent a 'tiue and fail. view and Ihe ieport is limited lo those matters sel in Ihe slalemenl below. exaffllnerfs slatement In connetlion wilh ffly ey3mination. rnattei has come lo my atiention lolher than that disclosed below).. 111 which gives me reèsDnaNe cause to bel￿ Ihat in. atry rnateiial re5pecl. the iequireffents= lo keep a[￿unts"￿ records in ￿(0￿￿OrKe with ￿tiOn 41 of Ihe 1993 AIL. and to P[ePa￿ ￿[￿￿15 which a({￿d wilh the aciounling record5 and ￿mPlY with the aiiouTr(ing requiietneTrts of the IW3 Ad have nol been fflel,. or 12) lo which. in my opinion. allentlon 51KNJld iKa diawTr in L¥der lo enable a p¥opei uThJetsianding ol Ihe &coun15 lo be reathed. "ple45e ￿te the *vd5 iir the fvarkets il do not3ppfy. Oaie Name Relevani prole55ional qua or body {1 Is} Athliess 31 HIGH STR YORKSHIRE IER APFII 1009 section 8 Disclosuie Onty complete il Ihe examiner reeds lo hI￿1￿Jh1 material woblems Give here bri details of any items that Ibe exam1r￿[ ¥Ashes io d&dose IER Apiil 2009 The North Yorkshlre Moors Association CIO No: 1169240 Receipts & Payments AccO￿nt for the Financial year ended 31st March 2023 yle 31.03.23 ylg 31.03.22 Recelpts Subs¢iipl*)n8 Members Book sales History Tree Wld V(Nce ol the MON5 NP Conference Oelegales Donat￿nS Presidenfs FuThJ Maln FuThl 4256.80 s76.gj 199.xl 444.75 4.643. 60.50 421.71 9.Ir20.OJ 1.*5.03 102.39 496.12 7.442.49 2.515.26 639.92 3.13 17.303.52 Gift Aid Interest Total Rocglpts Payments Insurance AGM Auditor CNP Annual Subscription Wild Flowers project PhotocopwrwJ & Stalkn￿ry Postsge Sundry Secretary Fees & Expenses v￿￿, Pr¢>Judion B8nk Ch8rgesTraypal fees Website Presidenfs Fund Award COnSe￿ath)n Award Counrj Meetwig Cosls Moofs Bu3 Nalional Parks Conference Cosis Baide of B￿and ￿0jeCt [Patn￿re Bequest) nol• 3 Memberr￿10 Annual Sub Total Payments Deficit for the year transferred to Genernl Fund$ {Wy deficlt) 263.24 131.67 16B.rJ) 250. 168.00 277.00 1.(M)8.LTh) 183.31 1.076.e6 145 CX) 3.795.85 1.751.80 150.62 676.80 109.65 1.287.14 220.00 3.BB7_42 1.8%.00 125.77 676.80 3.C(#).00 2.250.(KJ 72. 2,000.rKI 6.813.26 786.00 2,co) rjj 83.76 1251.L¥J 75. 20 819.94 3,518.42 The North Yorkghire Moors Association CIO No: 1169240 8alance Shoet as at 31st March 2023 31st March 31*tM¥¢h 2022 Curi•ntAss•ts Y(rtshire Bank12867030) CAF Cash a1x￿An1 {00007628) ChF Sa¥rys attwnt Main (C¥XIJ84225) PTrsiderts F￿1 5.5I8.87 1.358.69 41.589.97 1.183.16 10.028.30 314.30 42.948.66 1.103.37 11,525.76 303.52 35 (KlO.00 Sha*trfoc* 8ank 44.052.03 R•prn••nt•dty. 13gnoral Fund 52.418.69 55.934.89 C*fiu"t the Ye¥ 1 Aloor Bu• Prohrt LawJhlon Legacy& 11th￿de31Y￿ated don￿￿ I￿re￿I￿ eXha￿ted yle 31st Marth 2020 Hw¥er a hjrlher £2,CKIJ kn*s dorAitrJ 10 trms wr4ea tr•$ yÈar. 2 Corwrvation awards l£J,QODI BtLXZ Wake Clwity of£2.IKKltogEtIEr*ith a alhxalkn of£1,IYX) arec£fththtions l¢A¥¥ds the prov*ion of afi a(xw*le stop NYMAPA Ceth al 3 8•lUe of Byland ProioBt The Patsnore Beque51 {E2.500 201PJ19lwas wJknh)uEate a rner￿[￿ to the Bai08 £1,251 oftha baL9n￿ was ey•eThW 2022123. 4 Dpnolion¥ and Ro•trfc￿ FwKI*