TWO very recent guests from Australia to our home near Windermere summed up perfectly similar views of visitors and local acquaintances.

Their reaction was that the Lake District is a beautiful place, but spoiled for them by the number of people, congestion on roads, high-priced parking and high bus fares.

In the case of the latter they mentioned that it cost them £4 each to travel two stops between Rydal and Grasmere. They contrasted the latter with their far cheaper experience in Edinburgh.

These views seem to be the inevitable consequence of over-selling the Lake District as a tourist destination and, very probably, also of World Heritage Site status. We do not need more and more visitors if this, as appears demonstrably to be the case, damages the very thing that people wish to experience.

Although it is not the remit of Cumbria Tourism to promote a more mixed economy that is less dependent on tourism, neither is it in the interests of local people and visitors to promote the national park beyond its capacity. Added to this, fares need to make the use of public transport financially attractive so that private cars are not the most economic choice.

Ultimately, the Lake District and, increasingly Cumbria as a whole, needs to operate with a far more mixed economy that is less, not more, reliant on tourism.

These days ‘foot loose’ businesses benefit from wider and faster communications technology which make it easier to locate and employ people locally. Effective restrictions on second home ownership in the Lake District would also help to make houses more affordable and help to sustain local economies and culture, and retain young people, as distant owners contribute very little to the local economy except inflated house prices.

These are not new concerns, but they are increasingly important as the Lake District is ‘maxed out’.

Paul Flint

Windermere