Sir Martin Doughty 1949-2009

Graham Martin Doughty was born in 1949, the youngest son of Harold and Eva Doughty, who were well known in New Mills for running a successful grocery and provisions shop on High Hill Road. A pupil of New Mills Grammar School, he was a determined and intelligent young boy, quickly recognised for his witty sense of humour and photographic memory. He particularly enjoyed maths and sciences, graduating from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, followed in 1973 with a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering. Martin began his career as a lecturer in Public Health and subsequently as a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management at Sheffield Polytechnic and later Sheffield Hallam University. He was particularly interested in pollution and water quality and its impact on communities and wildlife.

In 1976 he was elected onto New Mills Town Council, aged 26, becoming its youngest chair in 1979.This was followed in 1981 by his election onto Derbyshire County Council as Labour member for New Mills, a position he held for some 24 years. During this time with Derbyshire County Council, Sir Martin served as chair of the Planning and Countryside Committee, Highways and Transport Committee, and as vice-chair of the Education Committee, Resources Improvements and Scrutiny Committee. Sir Martin was also a member of the Regulatory Licensing and Appeals Committee and a Derbyshire Fire Authority representative.

Sir Martin was the only elected Councillor ever to have closed a Principal Road, the trans-Pennine A625 route. In the 1980s, the A625 fell down Mam Tor, known as the shivering mountain. The Derbyshire County Surveyor said he could rebuild it for £2m, the local District Council demanded a bypass. As chair of Transport at Derbyshire County Council at the time, Sir Martin said the best decision was to do nothing, creating a lorry-free area in that part of the High Peak.
He received knighthood for services to local government in Derbyshire in 2001. Sir Martin stepped down from the County Council in 2005.

Paying tribute to Sir Martin, County Council Leader John Williams said: "It is hard to do justice to the enormous contribution Martin Doughty made to his own community of New Mills, to Derbyshire County Council, to local government and to environmental issues."Martin was a dedicated member of the council who worked hard for the communities he served and for all Derbyshire council tax payers. He was recognised locally and nationally for his keen interest in environmental matters and worked hard to encourage people to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. His untimely death robs us of a hardworking and committed individual who was trying to make the world a better place for all of us."

Sir Martin served on the Peak District National Park Authority for more than ten years, appointed chairman between 1993 and 2002. He was chair of the Association of National Park Authorities between 1997 and 2001.

Narendra Bajaria, chairman of the Peak District National Park Authority, said: "Everybody is very saddened to hear this tragic news. "Martin has fought against cancer for several years and in all that time his energy and contribution to conservation and the environment has never dimmed. He set the agenda for public transport in the national park, was a big supporter of the rural economy and a stalwart on our planning committee, going through every application in detail.

He was also a huge supporter of the Moors for the Future project which is restoring moorland to tackle the effects of climate change and help prevent flooding."
Sir Martin Doughty was appointed to Chair of English Nature by Michael Meacher in 2001. When Margaret Beckett, as former Environment Secretary, tasked Lord Haskins to review how rural delivery could be modernised - Sir Martin personally advised Lord Haskins. This led towards the creation of Natural England, which integrated wildlife, farming and access interests into one organisation for the first time. Previously, these had been administered by English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service. He was appointed to Chair of Natural England by Margaret Beckett in 2005.
The environment secretary, Hilary Benn, led the many tributes. "Martin was an outstanding public servant, and his loss will be deeply felt by all those who knew him. He founded and led Natural England with distinction, and was passionate in his advocacy of the natural world on which - as he would often say - we ultimately depend."

"Although Martin had been battling with cancer over recent years, it was a mark of the man that he refused to allow this to impair his dedication to Natural England. He was immensely proud to have been appointed as our first chair and his leadership has made an incalculable contribution, not only to our organisation, but to many others who will miss his unwavering support," said Poul Christensen, the acting chair of Natural England.

Sir Martin enthusiastically publicised the anniversaries of the Kinder mass trespass of April 24, 1932, which took place on the slopes of Kinder Scout at Williams Clough, near the village of Hayfield. The events of that day eventually led to the formation of the first National Park. Martin organised substantial public funding in 2007 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Kinder Scout Trespass and designed and co-wrote the Trespass Trail, a 14-mile walk to celebrate the event. The event brought leading politicians and public figures to New Mills, and like so many of Sir Martin’s local projects placed New Mills at the forefront of national news.

Martin was rooted in Derbyshire and used to describe the moors of northern England as rarer in global terms than tropical rainforest. Martin had many interests including photography, gardening, travel, natural history and local history a subject on which he often spoke to enthusiastic crowds. He was unconditionally a supporter of his hometown and He championed many important issues locally,

River Pollution. Many of us will remember the poor state of the Rivers Goyt and Sett, the foam and the terrible smell of pollution. It was Martin’s dogged determination that led to their cleaning.

Disley A6 Bypass. Martin’s support in blocking the so-called Brown Route helped prevent the splitting of our community by a dual carriageway.

Public Transport. His enthusiastic use of public transport always enabled Martin to know where improvements were needed and where the best value lay. During his time at the County Council he arranged many of the transport links that we take for granted today.

Riverside Park.The concept of an open wild space running from the Midland Railway Viaduct to Waterside Road was Martin’s. There are many inspired improvements that fall within the Riverside Park.The creation of Hague Bar Pond and car park. The purchase of Goytside and building of the Millward Memorial Bridge linking the Torrs and Goytside for the first time. The closure of the Mouseley Bottom landfill site, sewer beds and gasworks and the areas transformation to a nature reserve. And of course Martin’s greatest legacy to the town the award winning Millennium Bridge. Martin wrote and published a booklet ˜The Park under the Town,” which details the making of the Riverside Park.Most recently, Martin’s vision and support has bought the town fame as the home of the country’s first Archimedes Hydro generating plant in the Torrs.

Heritage and Information Centre. Martin worked hard to ensure the town was endowed with a facility that would impart local history to locals and visitors alike. It is from here that the Trespass Trail sets out to join the route of the mass trespass of 1932.

Goytside Nature Reserve. The acquisition and opening of the nature reserve at Goytside was one of Martin’s proudest achievements and he would often point out how lucky we are to have a nature reserve so close to the town centre. 

Sir Martin held office in a number of organisations both local and national:

• Chair - Torr Vale Mill BP Trust
• Vice President - Peak & Northern Footpaths Society and the Arkwright Society
• Patron - IEEM and Creswell Heritage Trust
• Fellow - Royal Society of Arts
• Member - CIWEM, BBC Rural Affairs Committee, Labour Party, RSPB and National Trust, New Mills, Heritage Centre Management Committee andGreen Alliance

 

Local Member of Parliament, Tom Levitt, a friend of Martin for some twenty years wrote:- ˜Martins death at 59 is a tragedy. He must have suffered from his cancer far more than he let on to us his friends. We are all thinking of Gilly, his wife, and his daughters Tessa and Beth.Other than his family, three passions ran through my friend’s veins: the Labour Party, the environment - and New Mills.It was fitting that he was born there, gave his all to the town and died there too, close to the Torrs and Martin’s Millennium Bridge..
 

 

 

Perhaps the last words and most fitting memorial are the headline from the Guardian, who on reporting the sad news of Sir Martin’s death printed the line

’Architect of modern British conservation dies'

Very few men of great stature shall come among us,

It is not for us to recognise them,

Nor for them to declare themselves to us,

But it is our part to tell of their deeds when they are gone.

 

 

 

This site is listed in the British Towns and Villages Encyclopaedia of Great Britain and we can be found in the entry for New Mills