Businessman hits out at Lake District National Park over car park refusal

A businessman has hit out at the Lake District National Park after his proposals for a car park in Coniston were refused by planners.

Phil Johnston, who lives and owns cottages in The Coppermines Valley in Coniston, purchased a piece of land next to the Ruskin Museum 11 years ago.

A year after purchasing the site, Mr Johnston had planning permission for the car park refused.

A number of applications have been submitted to use the site for parking in the last decade, all of which have been refused on the grounds of the “effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area, the Lake District National Park and the English Lake District World Heritage Site”.

Mr Johnston estimates that he has lost £250,000 during the whole process.

The national park’s case is that excavations and infilling with stone on the site are visible from the public roads and surrounding landscape, and result in a
“visually incongruous man-made addition which fails to reflect the local character and distinctiveness, and causes harm to the local landscape and area”.

The Lake District National Park has served three enforcement notices on Mr Johnston to reverse the changes.

Mr Johnston appealed the latest notice – issued on June 25 against his Coniston Central Car Park site – to the Planning Inspectorate.

His appeal was refused.

“We did camping for the first year (after buying the land) but it was not very effective as the site is wet,” said Mr Johnston.

“In Coniston, we have 130 inches of rain a year. We had 18 inches in February.”

Last year they put gravel down and installed drainage, which, Mr Johnston says, now means the water doesn’t drain away to the museum or the road.

He says there is a lack of parking in the area.

“Our car park is surrounded by trees which were planted in the last five-seven years and some are quite big. You can hardly see it,” said Mr Johnston.

Free car parking

Mr Johnston said he provided free parking to businesses in the area during the pandemic.

“The shops and cafes don’t earn a lot and there is very little car parking in Coniston,” said Mr Johnston.

He said 10,000 people had used the car park since last July and there “is nowhere else to park”.

Mr Johnston outlined that when his car park was full that so were others in the area, detailing that his site was not taking away custom from others.

The only other places people can park, said Phil, are at the Coniston Sports and Social Centre and at the John Ruskin Museum.

Both have limited opening hours.

During online and physical petitions, Phil says 3,000 are in favour of the car park and just 30 are against it.

“The long-term impact will be that people find it difficult to park and will drive elsewhere rather than come to Coniston,” said Phil.

“People have told me in the past they have tried to park here and have had nowhere to go so they now go to other places.”

No parking enforcement

Others, he said, park in front of residential homes. There is no parking enforcement in the area to stop this, he says.

Times are already tough for businesses in the village, says Mr Johnston.

“On Yewdale Road, one business a year has gone bust on average. In 2021, the Coniston Co-op lost money. If the Co-op can’t turn over a profit, what hope does everyone else have?

“The Lake District want vibrant local economies, but they won’t get it with this.”

Mr Johnston also pointed to the possible return of the Bluebird to Coniston, which could bring thousands of extra visitors to the area, many of which will need parking.

He worries about the impact a lack of parking could have on businesses in the area.

A spokeswoman for the Lake District National Park Authority said: “An unlawful car park was created in breach of planning control. The authority refused retrospective planning permission for the car park and served three enforcement notices.

“The landowner’s appeal to the Secretary of State has now been dismissed. The Inspector agreed that the car park was unlawful and unacceptable. This unlawful development must now be undone and the land restored.”