Members Steering Group

Report 2019

Produced by the

Trans Pennine Trail

Words from the Chair…

At the 2018 Members Steering Group mee ng it was noted to change

our format slightly and move from having an annual mee ng to one

every 3 years. A mee ng held on the third year ensures our

governance is adhered to in terms of the roles of Chair and Vice Chair,

who are elected every 3 years. This has been a big change for our

partnership a)er 30 years.

As Chair I would like to say a personal thank you to each and every one of you who has

taken part in this year’s 30th

Anniversary celebra ons – whether you’ve been out on your

local sec on to pick up li.er, or you’re one of our partners who have organised one of the

many wonderful events that’s been taking place right across the Trail. The press coverage

has been phenomenal.

The Trans Pennine Trail Partnership must be one of the longest serving partnerships in the

UK – a true credit to all our Officers, who have faced tremendous budget cuts both in terms

of finances and also resources, and to our Members who have con nued to support green

infrastructure and sustainable transport during these difficult mes. Your contribu ons

and officer support at mee ngs are vital to ensure the longevity of our presence and to

retain the Trans Pennine Trail as a cohesive route for future genera ons to enjoy. I ask that

our Councillor representa ves within our partner Local Authori es do all they can to help

support their officers to a.end our mee ngs and secure funding.

Thanks are also expressed to the Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail, our registered charity.

For Members and Trustees alike, the support you give to the Trail grows from strength to

strength. To our Volunteer Rangers, who we support through our joint scheme with

Sustrans, your work and support for the Trail is a credit to all of you. Not forge;ng the

many user groups who need to be thanked for their con nued proac ve support both on a

local and na onal level.

It’s hoped that this report also provides an update on the work of the TPT na onal office,

from October 2018 to October 2019. For those of you who are new to our Partnership it is

important to say that the TPT na onal office is a team of only two members of staff who

work relessly to promote and protect the Trail. This year we have been successful in

gaining an appren ce through Barnsley Council’s appren ceship levy, which has been a

vital resource for our Partnership. In terms of funding, the TPT na onal office will con nue

to source poten al funding opportuni es for all our contacts and par cularly in terms of

investment into sustainable transport.

Gillian Ivey

Chair of the Trans Pennine Trail Partnership

Volunteer Hours Given 30th Anniversary Events

Planning Consulta$ons

Submi%ed

Social Media Reach

Leaflets Designed

&

Printed

Partner Mee$ngs Held Website Visits

2019 at a Glance

*These figures are for 2018 due to 2019 figures being unavailable due to illness.

Our Vision

The are 6 themes within our 2018-2023 strategy of which are detailed below:

Theme 1. Marke$ng and Promo$on

Under this theme we have been working to strengthen the brand of the Trans Pennine

Trail with partnership working and also with the public as part of our 30th Anniversary

celebra ons. The table below indicates sta s cs for 2018 and 2019 (October to October).

Social Media: Social media is one of our most important ways of communica ng with Trail

users and sta s cs are con nuing to grow each year as evidenced below:

Twi.er: h.ps://twi.er.com/TPT_Na onal

Facebook: h.ps://www.facebook.com/TransPennineTrailNa onalOffice/

During 2019 we have seen our reach/impressions increase drama cally as a result of

promo ng the 30th Anniversary and the events that have taken place. However, more

work is required to look at increasing our interac ons with other organisa ons on both

Facebook and Twi.er.

TPT Website: h.ps://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/

Our current figures are showing as a 16% increase during 2019

when compared with the previous year. We have been ac vely

promo ng the website during the 30th Anniversary

celebra ons, which has had a posi ve impact on our visitor

hits. Back in January we also launched our new shop which has

To establish the Trans Pennine Trail as a na$onally recognised accessible

recrea$onal route for walks, cycling and horse riding.

Tweets Impressions Profile Visits Men$ons

2018 415 115,385 6,357 1,485

2019 796 428,200 8,670 1,883

% Diff 92% 270% 36% 27%

Page Views Reach Total Likes

2018 7,110 134,362 389

2019 24,006 303,303 1,086

% Diff 70% 56% 64%

Total

2018 86,455

2019 102,929

% Diff 16%

been a huge success and seen our sales increase considerably. The TPT office are

con nuing to promote the website and con nually make improvements to our

accessibility page and mapping. wherever possible.

Emails: The TPT con nues to record the number of emails issued by staff. The figures for

2018 and 2019 indicate a slight decrease in the number of emails sent. A contribu ng

factor of this is the considerable effort by the TPT office to a.empt to reduce the number

of emails sent internally. The implementa on of Barnsley

Councils ‘Digital First’ scheme has enabled the TPT to evaluate

different ways to streamline our day to day working methods

which is vital to support our small yet effec ve team. It is

important to note that this does not reflect the number of

people we correspond with on a yearly basis, as many of our

emails are sent to mul ple recipients.

Phone Calls: Data on the number of calls in and out of the TPT Office also con nues to be

recorded. A conscious effort has been made to try and reduce

the number of calls both in and out of the office, as it is more

me efficient to respond to an email or social media post.

However, we are aware that communica on via telephone calls

are a necessity for certain situa ons and also some people’s

preferred way of communica ng.

Work has been done to achieve this goal by ensuring our website is up to date as well as

providing regular updates via social media.

TPT Leaflets: The TPT office, alongside the Friends of the TPT are con nuing to run the

leaflet programme with the following leaflets provided during 2018 and

2019:

• North Yorkshire/ Selby (re-print)

• TPT General Leaflet

• Leeds

• Knowsley

• Chesterfield (re-print)

• Wakefield

Our leaflet programme has been extremely popular and copies can be

obtained via the TPT na onal office or downloaded on our website:

h.ps://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/leaflet-downloads/

Promo$on at Events: In 2019 the TPT a.ended both the Cheshire Show and the Great

Yorkshire Show. Due to poor a.endance at the 2018 Southport Air Show the decision was

made not to a.end in 2019.

Total

2018 12,717

2019 11,731

% Diff -5%

Total

2018 2,256

2019 2,054

% Diff -10%

Thanks are expressed to the ‘Friends of the Trans Pennine

Trail’ for providing contribu ons to enable us to a.end

these events and also to the wonderful supporters of the

TPT who offer up their me to help on the TPT stand.

Their enthusiasm and knowledge is a wonderful tribute to

the Trail partnership.

The TPT partnership is also very grateful to individual

supporters and officers who have a.ended local events to

represent the TPT. The TPT na onal office only has two full me members of staff and

therefore does not have the resources to a.end all these events. These events provide a

great plaQorm to enable our supporters to showcase their local knowledge. The TPT office

ensures that all supporters a.ending events have all the marke ng materials needed to

help publicise the route.

30th Anniversary: The Execu ve were keen to celebrate the Trail’s 30th

Anniversary but were very mindful of the financial restraints and resource

restric ons our local authority partners have been experiencing. With this

is in mind it was decided to not hold a large event, similar to the 21st

Anniversary, but to encourage all user groups and authority partners to use

the Trail for events and help promote further. This has been a huge success with a large

number of all users organising small and large events along the route and branding them as

so. In line with the anniversary the na onal office has been in charge of promo ng

everyone's events via social media and on the na onal website and has meant extensive

work with different organisa ons helping to create new working rela onships.

Circular Routes: The TPT office receives a lot of enquiries

about circular routes that incorporate the Trail. This is

something that isn't available at present but we are star ng

to work alongside the Partners and Supporters to help build

a series of circular walks that link onto the Trail. These will

be promoted via our website, social media and at regional

shows for walkers, cyclists and horse riders alike.

Equestrian Guide: Over the years we have produced a

number of equestrian guides that are available on the

website with more to come in the following months. These

guides are wri.en thanks to the help and support of our

local equestrians, so if this is something you’re interested in,

please contact the TPT Office.

In August 2019, a lady completed the TPT coast to coast for Macmillan which has really

helped to raise a lot of awareness of the Trail to equestrians.

We are going to be working closely with her to look at the routes she took that weren't on

the Trail to look as poten al op ons to allow the Trail be fully available to horse riders.

Branding: Partners are reminded that the TPT logo is an officially registered trademark, so

where our logo is used the wording ‘Trans Pennine Trail’ should be used together with the

‘hills symbol’ on all signage and publica ons.

Theme 2. Project Resilience

Governance: The Memorandum of Understanding in place with all our Local Authority

partners clearly iden fies roles and responsibili es.

Funding: The TPT na onal office is funded by small contribu ons from a number of our

Local Authority Partners. It is essen al for this to con nue to protect the longevity of the

TPT na onal office. The Trans Pennine Trail Execu ve is grateful for this con nued support.

The TPT office has also been working alongside the Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail this

year and have managed to secure external funding from the following sources to make

improvements to the route:

• Stockport Informa on Boards

• Selby Burn Airfield (final decision pending)

• Apethorn Godley turntable project

• Longdendale Access Project

• Halton Accessible Furniture

Group Mee$ngs & Supporter Newsle%er: During 2019 we

conducted a trial of holding mee ngs with our regional

partners 3 mes a year as opposed to our original 4 mee ngs

a year. A)er review it has been decided to revert to holding

mee ngs 4 mes per year. Membership of these mee ngs will

also be changed slightly to ensure that each user group is

fairly represented.

The format of the mee ngs has also been changed to expand

on the networking aspect to provide an opportunity to discuss

route issues in detail, reported problems, new works and

diversions. Feedback from our recent July mee ngs has

indicated the success of the new format.

Following each group mee ng a supporter newsle.er is circulated to provide informa on

on events, news and views and route updates to all our Friends, Volunteer Rangers,

Members and Officers. Thank you to everyone who contributes to this newsle.er—we get

some great feedback from readers.

Execu$ve Mee$ngs & Newsle%er: As with the group mee ngs, in 2019 our TPT Execu ve

mee ngs moved to 3 mes a year, again this will revert back to 4 mes a year in 2020.

A.endees include our five regional group Chairs, Chair of the Friends, Barnsley host and

the Chair and Vice Chair of the TPT Partnership. Following each Execu ve mee ng a

newsle.er is produced to keep Members, Officers and other key partners informed and

updated about the TPT throughout the year.

Theme 3. Supporters

We need to take this opportunity to recognise the hard work that our Supporters do on the

Trail, not only do they help the Na onal office but give lots of support to our local

authori es with keeping on top with vegeta on clearance and being our eyes and ears out

on the Trail.

Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail: The TPT Office works with the

Friends of the TPT to increase their membership and project

manage successful funding bids across the Trail.

The Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail is the TPT’s registered

charity whose membership supports the project in many ways;

helping to fund small projects, lobbying and campaigning on

behalf of the Trans Pennine Trail, helping with publicity, route

surveys and providing prac cal help. The TPT na onal office

hosts the Friends Board mee ngs, where ideas for new projects

and route issues are discussed in terms of further support

needed.

Earlier this year, the Friends membership secretary launched a campaign ‘This Path Needs

Friends’ to try and encourage new users to join. This has seen a number of enquiries and

we are hoping that once the winter months have passed and further promo on of the

campaign has been done we should see a steady increase in members.

A lot of work has taken place on the “Friends” sec on of the TPT website to help

modernise the way they gather new members and to increase dona ons. Further work will

con nue during 2020 to help make the Friends Board more visible and provide regular

updates on progress which can be shared on social media to help raise their profile.

h.ps://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/friends/

One of the major projects the TPT Office has been working on

in associa on with the Friends is the Longdendale Access

Project (LAP). The LAP project has taken place thanks to a

wonderful legacy dona on le) to the Friends. This has

enabled the Friends and the TPT to work with the family

along with Peak District Na onal Park Authority and United

U li es to look at how the Longdendale sec on can be

improved in terms of accessibility.

The legacy bequest has also enabled the Peak District

Na onal Park Authority to successfully gain further funding

to enable further works to take place. Furthermore, this

par cular sec on has also been noted as one of the Miles Without S les route, an ini a ve

being run by Peak District Na onal Park.

For any poten al donors, you can be rest assured that every penny donated to the Friends

of the Trans Pennine Trail is spent on the Trail in some way.

Volunteer Rangers: The Volunteer Ranger scheme con nues to operate in partnership

with Sustrans. Here are a few stories and images of what our ac ve supporters have

been up to over the past year.

Liverpool: Our very own volunteer ranger, Steven Sneade featured alongside Pam (Vice

Chair of the Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail and the very first Trail officer) to discuss the

TPT and further promote its 30th anniversary

h.ps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07cq76v. On the

back of this interview Steven also got the chance to film a

sec on on the Liverpool Loop Line for That’s Liverpool TV

h.ps://bit.ly/2M38EOE.

Stockport: Stockport volunteers have been busy keeping on

top of vegeta on along the TPT over the year. The new

tools we received from the TPT office have been really

helpful with this task.

Our perching posts have finally been installed, a)er a long wait—these are in the form of a

group of acorns and a cluster of hazelnuts. This now completes the work funded by our

Tesco Bags of Help Grant, which also saw the installa on of size new interpreta on boards

last Autumn.

Barnsley West: Volunteer Rangers are always busy

ge;ng the Magic Wood, near Bullhouse Chapel ready

for the different celebra ons throughout the year by

“giving it the TPTcv touch”. Works have also taken place

to clear the horse route of encroaching brambles, hiding

lots of exci ng treats to make it extra magical in me for

the younger visitors.

Wakefield: Wakefield District Cycle Forum (WDCF) con nues its work on the TPT around

Walton to return the Trail to its former glory. Cu;ng back on overgrown vegeta on has

opened up the Trail considerably and it is now more airy and open to the sun (when it

decides to appear). The Trail has also ‘grown in’ over the years so scrapping away weed

growth has exposed the original width. It is now twice as wide and much more able to cope

with passing traffic.

This year Open Country (h.p://www.opencountry.org.uk) a Yorkshire charity who enable

people with disabili es to access the countryside, through a fun and varied ac vity

programme, helped Wakefield District Cycle Forum make a short, accessible path along the

TPT in Walton to help cyclists, walkers and other TPT users to get into Walton more easily.

The tasks involved cu;ng back, wall building, path laying and

finishing it off with a rockery herb garden. Zika one of their

newest members said “I loved these workdays, it was

brilliant! I want to see people using this path for the first

�me. We all did a great job and it looks so good”.

Rotherham: The sec on of Trail opposite the Old Moor RSPB

reserve towards Wath Ings is extremely busy. At mes during

2018 there were occasions when people had to queue to

pass each other because of the encroaching vegeta on. In

February this year the local volunteer ranger group raced

against the onset of the bird nes ng season to cut back

vegeta on to open up the Trail. The Volunteer Group

Coordinator has also met with RSPB and Rotherham Council

to see how combined efforts can con nue to see

improvements to the Trail.

Hull: On the 8th April, 7 volunteers from the Yorkshire Wolds group did a few hours worth

of path maintenance on sec ons of the hard surfaced mul user track on the TPT between

Hornsea and Goxhill Sta on (about 1 mile south west of Hornsea). The work was mainly

sweeping and scraping winter mud and debris, together with clearing the path edges of

grass and other encroaching vegeta on.

This sec on of the TPT is well used by local walkers as well as cyclists travelling out from

Hull. Several path users made very apprecia ve comments of the work being done by the

volunteers. We are planning a further session for the 15th May to finish off .

Mike says… My favourite sec on of the Trail has to be the stretch at Penketh along the

Sankey canal around the Ferry Tavern area. When I were a lad, I used to ride my bike

around this area, the views across the river to Daresbury and towards Runcorn are

great. Over the last forty years the area has been regenerated, the Fiddlers Ferry Mari-

na is now full of boats the lock has been refurbished, and the canal was cleaned and

stocked with fish. You can regularly see swans and their cygnets cruising the canal .

Theme 4. Research and Development

Data is invaluable to the TPT office to assess the visitor spend across the Trail in terms of

economic benefit as well as gauging user experience and how this can be improved.

Visitor Monitoring: Data would normally be shared with our partners every quarter in

terms of visitor users and visitor spend but sadly our contractor has been taken ill

unexpectedly so we haven't been able to secure the final figures for 2019 as yet.

The table below indicates our final figures for 2018 and this data will be updated for the

2019 sta s cs when our contractor has recovered.

An aspira on for the Na onal office is to upgrade our counters to solar panel devices, a

project that is being looked into currently.

Bi-Annual Survey: This September the TPT office launched the bi-annual visitor survey.

This a short survey that can be completed either electronically via our website or physically

out on the Trail. The physical surveys are conducted by our supporter network in 20

different loca ons across the Trail. These areas have been selected to give a good spread of

urban and rural loca ons.

The results of the 2019 Visitor Survey will be produced shortly and circulated to all our

project partners and supporters.

Walkers 1,158,513 £20,399,676 67.5%

Cyclists 410,719 £2,686,757 23.9%

Walk & Cycle 81,226 £3,130,523 4.7%

Horse 66,018 £135,694 3.8%

TOTAL 1,716,476 £26,355,650 100%

Type Number Spend Percentage

Trailing through Doncaster

(Photo credit: Stephen Dennis) A ride in Sheffield

(Photo credit: Stephen Dennis)

Our final two themes sit side by side and are integral to the Trail:

Theme 5. Quality Standards: The quality of the route is of paramount importance both

to users of the Trail and also to the Partnership. Quality comes in two forms; quality of the

route itself and also the quality of visitor experience.

Theme 6. Environmental Sustainability: The Trail is a wonderful resource to help

promote green tourism, green jobs and carbon reduc on. Under this theme, the TPT

na onal office con nues to seek every opportunity to engage in projects to secure and

protect the environmental sustainability of the route and maintain our ‘green corridor’

wherever possible.

Consulta$ons: The TPT na onal office con nues to respond to major consulta ons that

could impact the Trail under Themes 5 and 6.

All partners are asked to remember to no fy the TPT na onal office of any consulta ons

that will merit a response from the na onal

office, including new Local Cycling and Walking

Infrastructure Plans.

All consulta on responses submi.ed by the

TPT na onal office undergo an internal

consulta on exercise with all relevant project

partners, the Friends Board and the TPT

Execu ve. The TPT na onal office also provides briefing notes / reports as requested by the

TPT Execu ve, Friends Board and our project partners.

Thanks to all our partners who have been involved in our consulta on process and if you’d

like copies of any of the responses submi.ed, please do get in touch.

Since our last members mee ng in October 2018 the TPT na onal office has responded to

the following consulta ons (see overleaf):

The Trail in Gilroyd

(Photo credit: BASD Barnsley) Butterfly at Torside

(Photo Credit: Paul Baine)

Se)on Formby By-pass Formby Masterplan

Liverpool Lime Street Sta on

Halton Delivery & Alloca ons Plan Local Plan Technical Consulta on

Warrington Local Plan Consulta on Arpley Landfill Site

Reddish Lane Sewage Works Centre Park Dwellings

Mill Lane Housing LCWIP

GMCA Greater Manch Spa al Framework

Trafford Sale Water Park

Manchester Walking & Cycling Proposals

Stockport LCWIP MCF Walking & Cycling

Stockport West Regen Framework

Peak Park Na onal Grid Undergrounding Transport Design Consulta on

Chesterfield Bamford Road Housing Inkersall Road Housing

Chatsworth Estates Killamarsh Housing Development

Woodthorpe—Chatsworth Waterside—Highways

Waterside A61 Bridge Avant Homes Development

Avant Homes Development (2) Chesterfield Local Plan

Barnsley MU1 Masterplan Framework Hoyland North Masterplan

Na onal Grid Undergrounding

WYCA Leeds North LCWIP Kirklees North LCWIP

Doncaster Doncaster Local Plan

Wakefield LCWIP

Sheffield LCWIP Ecclesfield Road Development

North Yorkshire Escrick Clay Extrac on

Hull Stoneferry Corridor A63 Princess Quay Bridge

Selby Selby Sta on Gateway Olympia Park Masterplan

Drax

Central Govt Changing Places

Landscape & Ecology Plan Traffic Management Plan

TPT Management Plan

SCR LCWIP Transport Strategy

Envt Agency Hull & Humber Flood Works

HS2 Envt Impact Assessment

Na onal Grid

Health: The Trail is a great resource for exercise and

the runs through some of the most deprived areas

in the country. In our 2017 visitor survey the

majority of people indicated they used the Trail

frequently to increase their physical ac vity.

The Trans Pennine Trail provides a free and safe

facility for adults and families of all abili es to use

the route for exercise alone or as part of a group.

Many groups including Sustrans, Cyclising UK,

Bri sh Cycling, schools, BHS, GoodGym and Park

Run use the Trail to hold their events.

Environment: The Trans Pennine Trail is the perfect place

for people to discover more about their environment.

Much of the Trail is a green corridor providing a haven

for wildlife. The Trail follows disused railways, canal

towpaths, riverbank, bridleways, cycle lanes and minor

roads. It passes through the vibrant ci es of Liverpool,

Manchester and Hull with op onal detours to Leeds,

Sheffield and York. The Trail also passes through the

beau ful Peak District Na onal Park.

Tourism: Our vision is to establish the Trans Pennine Trail as a na onally recognised

accessible route for walking, cycling and horse riding. The TPT is an ideal route to promote

sustainable tourism as the Trail is not just the UK’s first long distance mul -user route, but

also part of the walking route E8 that stretches from Ireland to Istanbul. Although the Trail

is not used largely for holidays (3% of users

surveyed in 2017 indicated they used the Trail as

a holiday) we do know this is an area of work we

could look to improve and ac vely promote the

Trail as a tourism route, as well as looking to

develop rela onships with external luggage and

logis cs / support providers, to make holidays

along the Trail easier.

We believe that improving access onto the Trail

will encourage users to the Trail for day trips, as

well as increase the number of local users that

are otherwise unable to use the route.

Transport: The TPT was the UK’s first mul -user route and provides a unique opportunity

to use sustainable transport, whether you’re a walker, cyclists or horse rider.

Economic Development: The Trail is unique as it

passes through a diverse range of environments

from Na onal Parks to neighbourhoods, heavy

industry to farming and coastlines to city centres.

The different areas also provide a wide range of

socio-economic condi ons with high levels of

depriva on in parts such as South Yorkshire and

Merseyside and areas of compara ve wealth

around Manchester and Leeds.

The economic benefits of the Trans Pennine Trail are:

• Encouraging investment to an area through environmental improvements.

• Providing a sustainable transport route for works or people undertaking training.

• Providing links to shops and services.

• Linking and promo ng a.rac ons so that they can a.ract custom form Trail users.

A showcase of our Social Media highlights:

This year we have seen a lot of fantas c images of the Trail being sent in on various

plaQorms, below we have selected a few that really capture the beauty of the Trail.

Photo Credits: BASD Barnsley, Tony Bu.erworth, Stephen Dennis, AJP_Health, Anthony McArdle,

RobandJohn1989, Grant Hall

Thanks and acknowledgements

The TPT Execu ve thanks all our Members for their

con nued support of the Trans Pennine Trail partnership

over the past 30 years.

You have helped us to achieve the status and brand

we are have and we hope that we can con nue to

strengthen this over the next 30 years!

Looking Forward

The Trans Pennine Trail Project also has a lot to look forward to!!

• Con nue to work with our Partners to achieve our

aim as becoming a na onally recognised long

distance accessible walking, cycling and horse riding

route.

• Ensure the TPT na onal office con nues to be

financially viable to protect the partnerships

longevity.

• Highlight the importance of the route within all

major planning applica ons and consulta ons.

• Enhance visitor experience

With your con nued support we will be able to work together to create a fully accessible

Trail for walking, cycling and horse riding for future genera ons to come.