Every day I see the passion and emotion that people have for the Lake District. I share this passion and as chief executive of the national park I wouldn’t do anything to put it at risk.

That is why it is important for me to reassure people that the eight pieces of land for sale, including Stickle Tarn, will continue to be protected and cared for.

I recognise that recent headlines may have caused some people concern - that their favourite woodland walk or dip in the tarn could somehow be restricted - however, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

During the past 60 years, the national park has acquired land for many reasons, but in the main it has been to ensure people can access the land and make sure we can care for the environment. During this time legislation has changed, public rights of access have increased and wildlife has become better protected; so it’s not always necessary to own land to secure these benefits.

Our model for running a national park is not based on public ownership and people are often surprised to learn the National Park Authority owns less than four per cent of land in the Lake District. The reality is that the majority of land in all of the UK’s 15 national parks is in private ownership.

So we now have the advantage of working under various laws that allow for public access and maintain high levels of protection for the natural environment. We protect the 96 per cent of land we don’t own through access and environmental legislation, backed up by the National Park Authority’s planning controls.

There will be times when we will buy land. However, we would only purchase when necessary to secure improvements to the environment or public access.

For example, we recently acquired some land as part of a partnership aiming to improve public access. Once we’ve made those improvements, we plan to put the land back into private ownership with those rights maintained.

I’d like to reassure people we don’t need to own land to protect the public’s interest in visiting it, in enjoying it and knowing it is conserved to the highest standards.

Like all public bodies, we should use the limited amounts of tax-payers’ funding we have wisely. This means only holding on to land where necessary. Our priority and my passion remains to look after this special place.

We have eight properties on the market by formal tender, which means we don’t have to take the highest bidder and will instead look for the most responsible people or organisations. The proceeds of any sale will be reinvested back into improving or maintaining other national park properties or assets.

I want people to understand the vast majority of land in the national park is managed very well by their owners. This fundamental principle underpins all we do and so it’s wrong to expect the National Park Authority to own land to secure its conservation.

Finally, I’d like to say our workforce, supplemented by a very large volunteer base, work with landowners and communities to protect and improve almost 2,000 miles of rights of way and many hectares of open access land. Through partnership projects such as Fix the Fells, Go Lakes and Miles Without Stiles we are improving the accessibility for all users, enhancing everyone’s ability to get out and enjoy the special features of the national park. So we still have the ability to actively conserve and maintain land, regardless of ownership.

The sale of these pieces of land won’t change the status quo in any shape or form. We still have the ability, and passion, to make sure the Lake District continues to be cared for and is accessible to all.