Tourists’ cars could be banned from parts of Lake and Peak Districts

‘It cannot go on getting worse,’ Lake District national park boss says

(Alamy)

Authorities in the Lake and Peak Districts are reportedly looking at banning cars from certain areas.

The Lake District national park is now “actively considering” banning cars in its most popular valleys during peak season, its chief executive told The Guardian.

“It feels like we are at peak car. I want to see less reliance on it into the future,” Richard Leafe told the newspaper.

“It cannot go on getting worse otherwise it really will become too much to handle in our national parks.”

The Lake District National Park previously said they wanted to see more sustainable travel in the national park within the next two decades, in a bid to reduce emissions and traffic.

Sarah Fowler, the head of the Peak District national park, told the newspaper she was interested in exploring a proposal put forward by campaigners to shut certain roads to cars, in turn freeing up space for walkers and cyclists.

Car-free days were a “really interesting concept”, she added.

The park is reportedly looking at trialling a “hail-a-ride” service where visitors can call a bus.

It also ran a tourist route bus service over summer with the aim of reducing the number of car journeys within the Peak District during its busiest month

The Lake District national park said it wants to develop more opportunities for travel and recreation - such as walking and cycling - to encourage more sustainable travel within its boundaries.

It aims to have less than half of its visitors main mode of travel around the area as car by 2040, and 64 per cent of arrivals by car.

“We continue to encourage visitors to travel to and around the Lake District National Park as sustainably as possible,” Mr Leafe said.

“Fewer cars on the roads means people aren’t spending their holidays sitting in traffic, and they are making an important contribution towards a net zero Lake District by 2037.”

He said there were “several areas” in the national park that get “very busy during peak periods”.

“There are several areas within the National Park that become very busy during peak periods. We’re working with partners, communities and landowners to look at the best options to get people out of their cars and consider alternative ways to move around the park,” Mr Leafe added.