A working group has been set up to investigate the pros and cons of introducing a “tourist tax” in the Lake District.
Peter Walter, a Lake District National Park Authority board member, told a meeting of Keswick Town Council that a “sea-change” had taken place over the willingness to have an “open discussion” about asking visitors to pay extra levies or charges.
Last month, Keswick town councillors gave their backing to the report which looked at how tourism was creating an “invisible burden” on the Lake District and how different tourist destinations across Europe deal with visitor impacts.
Mayor Louise Dunn said: “We recognise in Keswick that our residents are subsidising the tourist industry.”
Mr Walter said the Friends of the Lake District’s objective was to kick-start a discussion among all partners and communities on the subject of who pays for the Lake District.
“They were very consciously not promoting any particular solution. Their aim and objective was to promote the discussion – and they have certainly done that,” said Mr Walter.
He explained that it was the Lake District National Park Partnership – a body that combines 22 different organisations and writes the Partnership Plan (which they are in the process of doing) – which had set up the working group to look at the subject.
They will investigate and evaluate a number of different models and assess the pros and cons of each of those and will report back with those findings to the National Park Partnership, he told town councillors.
Mr Walter added: “It is an open conversation now. I even heard a representative of Cumbria Tourism, when asked a direct question: ‘Would Cumbria Tourism support a bed tax?’, they said: ‘We would have to consult with our members’.”
In the past, from a Lake District National Park Partnership point of view, no discussion had been allowed to take place, the meeting was told.
“It was shut down,” said Mr Walter.
“I’ve heard some descriptions of previous meetings where it was literally not allowed to be put on the table – the idea of any kind of business levies or charges.
“That is now definitely not the case, it is an agenda item to be discussed, and there is a working group from the partnership looking at this.”
He added it was “significant progress” that the partnership had set up a working group to look at and assess different options for a tourism levy.
“I want us to have an open conversation about this.
“The most important thing is that we discuss it and every stakeholder has involvement in it,” he said.
Any planning consultation, which would need to be carried out, was a long way down the line.
“At the moment all we are talking about, is talking about talking,” said Mr Walter.
