State of the Park Report - North York Moors National Park

3.3 The data shows that the number of visitor days in the Park is continuing to declineand has been doing so since 2007. It is thought that this is partly linked to thedownturn in the economy. The new Management Plan, published in 2012, containssome key policies to seek to reverse this decline and the Authority has beenproactively working towards this through such initiatives as the creation of the Headof Promotion and Tourism post.3.4 The data also shows that water quality in the Park is not currently meeting thestandards required by the Water Framework Directive. This is another area which thenew Management Plan seeks to address through a range of initiatives including agrienvironmentschemes and Catchment Sensitive Farming Initiatives.3.5 Although not entirely reflected in the overall figures, the Community Facilities Surveyhas revealed a continuation in the trend of the loss of general stores in villages andthe move towards providing post office services within other facilities. Five villageshave lost post office services since the 2009 survey.4. Future Monitoring4.1 As stated above, the 2012 State of the Park report is the last report relating to the1998 Management Plan. The new Management Plan sets a commitment to monitor arange of new indicators which relate to the objectives of the new Plan as well as acommitment to continue to monitor indicators which we have monitored for a numberof years. This enables long terms trends to be understood as well as enabling policiesto address current issues to be monitored. An amended set of headline indicatorsmay be more appropriate for monitoring the 2012 Management Plan and this will beconsidered as part of future State of the Park reports and as part of widerconsiderations about how the Authority reports on progress given increasingly limitedresources.5. Financial and Staffing Implications5.1 There are no financial or staffing implications associated with this report.6. Sustainability Appraisal6.1 There are no sustainability implications arising from this report as it relates tomonitoring.7. Recommendation7.1 That Members note the contents of the 2012 State of the Park report.7.2 That Members agree that the 2012 State of the Park report can be published.Contact Officer:Andrea McMillan, Planning Policy Officer. Ext 2538.Background documents to this reportFile Ref.1. North York Moors National Park Management Plan 1998 63052. North York Moors National Park Management Plan 2012 6305State of the Park Report 2012/2