National park bids farewell to experienced members

Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) has said goodbye to three of its members, including two who have served 20 years.

Philip Sanders and James McInnes represented Devon County Council on the authority for two decades and Lois Samuel for the last few years.

Mr Sanders and Mrs Samuel both lost Conservative seats in West Devon to Reform at the recent county council elections and so can no longer serve on the DNPA.

Mr McInnes, the former Conservative member for Hatherleigh and Chagford and leader of the council, has retired from local government.

Chair of DNPA Pamela Woods expressed “heartfelt thanks and appreciation” for the skills, experience, advice and support of the former councillors at their last meeting authority on Friday.

She said both men had chaired planning meetings which had been “challenging” and not an easy job, and all three members would be missed.

Dartmoor National Park Authority is made up of 19 members, five of whom are appointed by Devon County Council, and two each from West Devon Borough and Teignbridge District Councils, one from South Hams District Council, four from parish councils, and five are appointed by the Secretary of State to represent the national interests.

Philip Sanders said he had been very proud to be part of an organisation which was free of party politics.

“The national park authority is comprised of a very wide range of people with a very wide range of political views but never in the time I have been on this authority have I ever seen a decision on party political lines,” he said.

“It’s always been every one of us thinking what is best for Dartmoor National Park and the people that live and work in it and the people that visit it.

“It is inbuilt into the culture of the organisation and we have an exceptionally good working relationship with officers.”

He said losing his seat in the election and therefore having to give up his roles at the park authority, plus the Tamar Valley National Landscape, Tamar Estuary Consultative Forum and “a whole range of other things” was “a bit of a wrench but that’s politics, you just have to accept these things and move on, tomorrow is another day.

“It was not my choice, my life has been geared around local government for quite some time and that can be quite hard. Losing the election has created some space but I still have a lot of other things going on.”

Mr Sanders will continue to serve as one of the directors of the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, which is made up of 19 schools in the area.

James McInnes also highlighted the “non-political place” of the national park authority.

“The minute I walk through the door, whether you are from a parish council, local authority member or appointed by the Secretary of State, we all work together… and that is what I particularly enjoyed.

“I enjoyed chairing the planning committee. Sometimes we had a meeting room of people all protesting but it’s about making sure the public feel the application is looked at properly. They may not agree with the decision but at least the process we went through was correct.”

He said 20 years of the county council and DNPA had been “quite intensive” and it was time to “relax and reassess”.

“It’s going to be difficult for the first few weeks but I am going to let life flow and calm down and I’ll relax for a while before I get involved in different things.

“Part of the reason for retiring was I still want to go out and about and enjoy life with my wife.”

He said he felt particularly sorry for a lot of his Conservative colleagues who lost their seats in the Devon County Council elections because “it transpired that it didn’t matter what any of us said locally it was like a national election that people voted in.”

The Conservative party, which previously had overall control, ended election day with just seven councillors.

The Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) won 27 seats, Reform UK 18 seats, Greens six and Independents two. No seats went to Labour and no party has overall control.