IN SEPTEMBER 2019 the Glover Report into the future of Britain’s protected landscapes criticised national parks for not making enough people welcome.

Around Christmas time the chief executive of the Lake District National Park Authority told Sky News the national park needs to be "sold to everybody in Britain, all society, and it's important that it doesn't just become exclusive to one single-use group".

Research shows visitors to the Lake District, are too heavily weighted towards older, able-bodied white people.

Yet Friends of the Lake District recently launched its Save Our Lake District (SOLD) campaign seeking to "change the way that the Lake District is looked after" and protect it "from developments and activities that damage its remarkable beauty".

By whose judgement would that be? By the judgement of the trustees of Friends of the Lake District, I guess, who are largely middle-aged, older professionals, white and middle class. Don't they speak for themselves?

Geoff Wilson

Penrith