An action group has been set up to tackle parking around a village near Keswick.
Around 30 people from Portinscale have set up the group to look at vehicle numbers, on-road parking and road safety in and around Portinscale and on the west of Derwentwater.
The Derwent Safe and Sustainable Traffic Action Group will be holding its first public meeting at 7pm on February 24 in Portinscale Village Hall to explain its aims and encourage other people to get involved.
They say they have set up the group because in recent years, there has been a surge in visitor numbers to Portinscale. Villagers are concerned that emergency vehicles and buses will be unable to get in or out due to the problem of people parking on the road through the village.
Group member and local resident Alan Ashby said: “The current situation is unsafe and unsustainable for both residents and visitors.
“A range of measures are now needed: parking restrictions in the village and further south through to Grange which strike the balance of allowing local businesses to operate and traffic to flow, better sustainable public transport provision and integrated park and ride schemes, new safety measures including speed restrictions both through the village and at the junction where the village meets the A66.”
The group feels the area has been abandoned by the authorities. Other Lakeland villages have parking restrictions and 20mph zones but these are conspicuous by their absence in Portinscale and on the west of Derwentwater.
It said it aimed to present a unified and constructive local voice to help the authorities address these issues and help achieve Cumbria’s and LDNPA’s aims of reducing vehicle numbers as part of the area’s Net Zero transport plans.
Near-term objectives of the group include reducing vehicle numbers in the area by 20 per cent a year over the next three years and putting pedestrians and cyclists first.
Resident and group member John Wilson said: “We have already proactively offered solutions such as the Park and Sail scheme to Catbells last year. We now need the authorities to help build momentum by helping to offer a wider range of sustainable solutions as well as introducing enforcement against inappropriate parking. We need both a carrot and a stick to change people’s behaviours.”
People who cannot make the meeting will be able to watch a live broadcast over Zoom.
