Keswick councillors are pressing ahead with their call for a feasibility study to be carried out into the introduction of a charge for cars entering the Lake District.
They voted 9-3 at their most recent meeting last week to support a motion to ask Cumbria County Council for the first time to officially look into charging motorists who visit the national park.
Besides reducing traffic, the move would also generate new income which could be used to improve public transport and make it more affordable across the Lake District, providing a double boost for the environment.
But the outcome frustrated Councillor Steve Harwood, who said the town council had not voted on whether a sustainability charge was right for the Lake District.
“I am completely opposed. I think it is totally wrong,”” added Coun Harwood, who voted against the feasibility study request along with Coun Duncan Miller and Coun Peter Terry.
“We are lucky enough to be able to enjoy everything the national park has to offer and I think it is right that the opportunity should be available to everyone from outside the area to have the same experience without having to pay for the privilege.
“We live in a natural environment rather than a man-made theme park and it should be open to all. I am not in favour of a culture of charging for something simply because you can,” said Coun Harwood following the town council’s online meeting.
He said fees for visiting motorists would be a “regressive tax”, adding: “It might be popular locally but would engender a feeling of resentment towards the Lake District by visitors who are charged.”
He favoured a national “road pricing” policy which would charge motorists by distance travelled rather than an isolated fee for visitors as they pass automated camera points at every road into the Lake District.
“I am concerned at the principle of carrying out a feasibility study as they tend to deal with facts and figures rather than hearts and minds.
“They can also be tailored to justify any point of view by the instigator. It is easy to be dazzled by how many millions (of pounds) this policy would raise for Cumbria County Council but there can be no certainty it would be used for the purposes intended, given the ongoing constraints on public finances.
“I believe visitors would reluctantly pay a sustainability charge but it would be the end of ‘Welcome to the Lake District’ — or worse it would push the problem elsewhere and they would go to the Yorkshire Dales for free,” Coun Harwood concluded.
Tim Clarke, an Ullswater-based sustainable transport campaigner, had earlier praised Keswick Town Council for its pioneering initiative. Keswick’s deputy mayor
Coun David Burn said it was not the only organisation thinking along the lines of introducing a fee for visiting motorists,
which would not have to be paid by local residents or workers.
Coun Tony Lywood said the issue was already being considered by the county council and the Lake District National Park Authority, both of which he is a member.
The matter had been raised by Keswick’s mayor Paul Titley, who said it was right “to do something, rather than nothing.”
