FRESH calls have been made to bring in an eco-charge as a solution for the Lake District’s gridlocked roads.
Cumbria County Council member for Keswick Tony Lywood is calling for a charge to vehicles from outside Cumbria for the roads that are becoming gridlocked on bank holidays and during bouts of warm weather.
Visitors have recently been seen flocking to the area’s beauty spots, causing problems on the county’s country roads and in some cases making them impassable to emergency services.
Councillor Lywood said that it would not hamper the county’s vital hospitality industry: “I think the first thing is that we’re not anti-tourist quite the contrary, we want more tourists in the Lake District.
“What we want to restrict is the two tons of tin they bring with them.
“We need to look at some form of road charge or eco charge.”
A Clean Air Zone has already been established in other parts of the UK including Birmingham as a way of reducing emissions and preventing parts of the city from becoming a “rat run.”
Figures from the city council report that in the first month of operation the daily average number of vehicles entering the Clean Air Zone was between 95,000 – 100,00. During the same period the percentage of vehicles subject to the daily fee reduced from 18.7 per cent in the first two weeks of operation to 12.4 per cent in the final part of the month, following the introduction of payments on June 14 2021.
Birmingham City Council has recorded a marked improvement in air quality
“The legislation is already there.” said councillor Lywood.
When asked if the move could reduce visitors to tourism businesses is he said: “Certainly in America when they introduced charges for national parks tourism went up not down.
“I was trying to get buses to run from the areas of high unemployment such as Cleator Moor and Egremont to areas of low unemployment like Keswick.
Councillor Lywood said: “With the money that is gained from an eco charge we would certainly be able to do that, in my view it’s a win-win situation.”
Concerned members of the public have set up a group named CAST to champion the Clean Air Zone, or Eco Charge cause in Cumbria.
Carol Rennie, co-owner of the Alhambra Cinema in Keswick said: “I am all for measures that will reduce gridlock.”
She said that a proper system needs to be put in place with car parks properly regulated and an improved bus service around the area.
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