The authority in charge of running the Lake District national park is gearing up for its busiest summer on record.
The Lake District National Park Authority is working alongside a range of local partners including Cumbria Tourism, landowners and local councils to make sure that people can get the most out of their time in the Lake District.
It will:
- Provide more temporary car parks in key locations
- Improve parking and camping signage throughout the park
- Expand the successful multi-agency patrol team to include area-specific staff
- Enlist the help of more visitor welcome volunteers
- Continue real-time parking information on SaferLakes to help visitors plan their day
- Provide more litter patrols and new litter picking stations
- Provide additional temporary toilet facilities at Keswick, Bowness, Wasdale and Buttermere
- Increase lake ranger patrols to keep people safe in and on the water
- Offer a new free shuttle bus from Cockermouth to Buttermere
- Promote other park and ride initiatives like Keswick park and sail and an e-bike hire pilot.
There are now 140 specialist visitor welcome volunteers who will be at key locations throughout the park to be able to give help and advice for first-time visitors or those looking to discover a new special place in the Lake District.
Chris Wingrove, volunteer team leader with the Lake District National Park Authority said: “We know that this is going to be a busy summer so we’ll be on hand to advise if an area is very busy and make suggestions about alternative local destinations.
“We really hope that we’ll be able to help people find a new favourite place in the Lakes rather than sticking to what they already know.
“We can give knowledgeable advice on how to get the most out of your visit – from parking, to the best way to get from A to B, or even where is handy to go for a cup of tea. There will be pop-up information stations in some of the busiest spots, so look out for these and come and say hi.”
Charlotte Fuke, tactical visitor management project officer for the Lake District National Park will be making sure partners work together to support visitors and residents during this busy time.
She said: “We’d ask people to use saferlakes.co.uk to check real-time parking information, have a ‘plan B’ in case the area you were going to is very busy. Please only park within designated car parking areas to keep our narrow roads free for emergency vehicles.”
Additionally, a new externally funded communications officer has been appointed to manage a multimedia #LakeDistrictKind communications campaign. The campaign will remind people to be kind when they are in the Lake District – kind to communities, landscapes and wildlife and will ensure that whether people are coming to the Lake District for the first or fortieth time that they know how to help protect the landscape they came to enjoy.
The campaign has been developed building on the experience of the last 16 months and feedback from the public, LDNPA staff and volunteers, partners, visitor surveys, other national parks and insights from government to create a flexible messaging framework.
