Pop-up car parks which helped overloaded areas of the Lake District absorb the surge in post-lockdown tourists have come to an end — unless the Government has a rethink, officials say.
A number of public bodies involved with managing the pandemic visitor influx across the national park have called on ministers to reinstate a rule relaxation brought in after the lockdown of 2020 and then again for summer, 2021.
It gave the park authority freedom to allow new temporary car parks and campsites to stand for as long as 56 days in summer — instead of the usual 28 days.
But that freedom has now been withdrawn, leading members of the Lake District’s multi-agency tactical visitor management group (TVMG) to call for it to be brought back.
Although not universally welcomed, the measure allowed under-pressure areas like Portinscale and Derwentwater to adjust to soaring numbers of holidaymakers unable to go abroad.
It meant short-term solutions like a large temporary car park at Portinscale could be brought in — without the need for applicants to apply for full planning permission.
A number of agencies make up the TVMG, including Cumbria police, local councils, Cumbria Tourism, the National Trust, the LDNPA and the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association.
They have asked the Government to extend the Permitted Development Rights from 28 days to 56 days until December, 2022.
An LDNPA spokesman said: “The 28-day and 56-day rule operations have been a long-standing feature of the visitor resource in the Lake District, increasing capacity at peak times and often benefiting local landowners and farmers, as well as providing capacity for visitors to use.”
Reintroducing the rule would help agencies working in extraordinary times to manage anticipated visitor pressures during 2022, he added.
The requests from the Lake District are said to be under consideration by government.
