National park votes for tougher campsite rules

A national park authority has voted to bring in powers to make it more difficult to set up temporary campsites.

They can be set up simply across the country, in some cases - like the Lake District - by sending one email to local planners before being implemented.

The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) is now looking to put a stop to the practice there to better protect the landscape.

At a meeting on Wednesday, members voted to bring in Article 4 powers, which remove permitted development rights for temporary campsites and require planning permission for them.

Member of the public Sarah Wilson spoke in favour of bringing in the powers.

"We believe that well-run campsites in the right places are part of the answer to fly camping, and scrutiny is how you get well-run campsites in the right places," she said.

Speaking on behalf of charity Friends of the Lake District, Leanne Parr said while they understood the benefits campsites bring, "sadly" a number of them have "adverse effects" on communities, nature and the landscape.

She said residents who live near such sites raised concerns about noise, disturbance, traffic and pollution.

Head of development management at the LDNPA Andrew Smith said the authority received 47 notifications for temporary campsites over the calendar year.

He said the "really high visitor numbers" of 18 million a year meant there was a "high risk of unacceptable adverse impacts" from the sites, meaning there is justification of an Article 4 direction.

LDNPA's chair of development control committee Mark Kidd suggested, if the Article 4 rights were passed, they would be accompanied by a proposal to enable the "good campsites to continue".

He said he and his family liked to go camping in the Lake District a few times a year and it could be "hard to get availability" but that the temporary sites provided a "service people want".

He added they tended to be cheaper than formal ones.

A vote was then taken on officers' recommendation to approve the beginning of a consultation into Article 4 powers, which got 15 votes for and one against, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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