REPORTS from lake users that Windermere is a scene of conflict during summer will come as a surprise to those who rarely venture onto the water or are content to admire it from the safety of the shoreline.

The irony being of course that the original bylaw, rightly or wrongly, was aimed at ending conflict on England's longest lake.

The vision back then was that a blanket 10nmph speed limit would help facilitate a more idyllic, tranquil, safer environment for a broader number of users, be they canoeists, kayakers, sailors or swimmers, as well as curbing the rising number of fast power-boats.

But it is easy to see now how this growth of 'slow sports' and the promotion of the Lake District as an Adventure Capital, combined with the influx of open-water swimmers on the back of events like the Great North Swim and Chillswim, means that today there is more 'traffic' competing for space on the lake.

Add power-boats to that mix - and the survey includes many claims that the 10mnph bylaw is being regularly broken by some - and it is easy to see how the conflict has come full circle 10 years after the bylaw became enforceable.

Many will understand the reluctance of the Lake District National Park Authority, and South Lakeland District Council, to want to go back over well-trodden ground - especially if it involves costly legal expense.

But it would be unwise of the authorities to stop listening to the public or not give serious consideration to the genuine experiences of people using the lake.

Because despite their differences, lake users seem to agree on at least one thing - that the blanket speed limit is not working as it could, in their view at least.

As these arguments amplify and there is an inevitability now they will, it will be insufficient to say that blanket Rights of Navigation over the lake means that nothing can be done. Laws can, and are overturned regularly.

What is important is that communication channels remain open between all and everyone keeps talking.