Glenridding Common lease extension

Trust delighted to look after the land around Helvellyn for another year as further talks take place

The John Muir Trust has welcomed input from the Glenridding community to explore a variety of ownership and management models for Glenridding Common, following the recent stakeholder consultation held by the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) during July 2020.

The Park’s consultation sought views on offering the John Muir Trust a new three-year lease, with an option to purchase during that period. It concluded that the Trust should be offered an extension to its lease for a year to allow further discussions on the future management of the land to take place with stakeholders, including the local Parish Council who have expressed an interest in how the land is governed.

During the Trust’s current three year lease period at Glenridding Common, it has  invested in the area to: create two jobs, one of which is with a local young person; employ local footpath contractors to maintain paths on the fell; host our national AGM in the village; work with local volunteers to increase populations of rare arctic alpine plants and in partnership install a temperature sensor on Helvellyn crag to inform winter climbing conditions; provide cash support to two environment and heritage community projects and continue our long term educational and engagement work with local schools and other groups using the John Muir Award.

Pete Barron said: “We very much appreciate the welcome that has been shown to the Trust in the area over the last three years and are delighted to continue to work with the people of Glenridding.

“We’ve maintained a healthy dialogue with the community and other stakeholders and been transparent about our aspirations for the health of the common throughout the initial lease. We remain open to all ideas, partnerships or governance models that would support the Trust’s continued investment in this special place, while allowing all parties to pursue shared objectives.”

Photograph of the Trust's Glenridding Common team is taken from Terry Abraham's latest DVD - Life of a Mountain – Helvellyn.