A parish council, major tourism attraction and residents have backed plans for a new car park in a Lake District village.
In April, Phil Johnston lodged an application with the Lake District National Park Authority to create a car park, bus stop, toilets and e-bike hire facilities on Lands Field, off Yewdale Road in Coniston.
Proposals include creating 70 car parking spaces with five accessible spaces, six coach parking spaces and six bays for electric vehicle charging.
Coniston Parish Council said: “This proposal appears to address the major concerns in terms of access, impact on drainage and a genuine attempt to reduce the visual and environmental impact on the immediate vicinity.
“Given the importance to the long-term health of the local economy that a car park would bring, and by extension to the whole village, the parish council voted to support the proposal.”
A villager added: “The village has seen a number of locally run shops closing recently so parking for day visitors will be of huge benefit to the businesses operating in the village, bringing in additional footfall to support local shops, cafes and pubs.”
The application said the need for additional coach and car parking in Coniston was long established and recognised by both the Lake District National Park Authority and the parish council.
It added: “The return of Bluebird is expected to lead to a significant increase in visitors to the Ruskin Museum, which currently does not have any dedicated parking, therefore the need for further public parking is even more acute.”
The director of Ruskin Museum, Tracy Hodgson, said there was a necessity for parking close to the attraction in light of an increase in visitor numbers.
Ms Hodgson said: “Since Covid all visitor attractions have been trying to get people back in and we now have an attraction that is doing just that, but without parking we fear people will stop visiting us, and we need the support from the national park to help us sustain our visitors. So we, The Ruskin Museum please ask that you pass this application.”
However, landscape charity Friends of the Lake District have urged national park planners to reject the application as they considered the proposal inappropriate and unsustainable development.
It said: “A car park of such a large size will encourage a greater number of vehicles to use the road network. This is in direct conflict with adopted planning policy. Therefore, the application should be refused.”
Previous planning applications for a car park on Lands Field have been refused with an application for 100 car parking spaces being turned down in 2017 due to impact on the landscape.
An application in 2021 was refused by the LDNPA and a subsequent appeal was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate due to the impact on the landscape and the view the scheme failed to demonstrate how the car park facilitates the transfer of people to sustainable transport.
Now, the applicant has proposed the inclusion of a bus stop but confirmation that it would be used would be required from the relevant operator.
E-bike hire facilities and information about walking routes are also proposed in plans to facilitate sustainable transport.
The car park would also offer a single tariff for parking all day in a bid to encourage long stays so visitors will either stay in the village, use the site as a base for walking or use public transport to travel elsewhere.
The applicant also proposes planting 130 trees throughout the site and creating an apple orchard to deliver a biodiversity net gain of 46 per cent.
The planning application is being considered by the Lake District National Park Authority.
