Home / Environment / Proposed Car Park Divides Lake District Community
Proposed Car Park Divides Lake District Community
4 Nov
Summary
- Objectors fear car park's impact on residents and environment
- Supporters say car park would improve road safety and address congestion
- Number of parking charge notices more than doubled since 2021
As of November 4th, 2025, a proposed car park near the popular Catbells area in the Lake District has become a point of contention within the local community. Objectors, which include Above Derwent Parish Council and charities such as Friends of the Lake District, the National Trust, and the Woodland Trust, are concerned about the car park's potential impact on residents and the environment. They fear it would increase traffic from Portinscale to the A66.
On the other hand, supporters of the plan argue that the car park is a sustainable proposal that would improve road safety and address some of the issues with congestion caused by cars parked on the road. Lingholm Private Trust stated that inconsiderate parking around Catbells often reduced the road to a single lane, making it difficult for emergency vehicles and buses to access the area.
The National Trust, however, believes the proposal is "simply in the wrong place" and that traffic needs to be "pulled back completely" from going to Portinscale, as the junction onto the A66 is already experiencing significant congestion.
Interestingly, similar plans had already been turned down by the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) in 2021, and a further application was withdrawn before a decision could be made in 2022. The parish council had initially supported the initial plans but has now objected to the latest proposal.
The stretch of road from Portinscale to Catbells has had the highest annual number of penalty charge notices across Cumberland, with figures obtained by the trust revealing that the number had more than doubled from 628 in 2021, before the double yellow lines were implemented, to 1,362 in 2024. The LDNPA stated that the increase in parking charge notices may have been due to more enforcement action and the introduction of parking restrictions.
The parish council remains convinced that a more appropriate approach would be to "disperse and not attract additional traffic into the National Park."
