From last night’s Keswick Reminder:

‘…Whinlatter Traffic Management Measures.

In order to address problems arising from visitors parking on roadside verges, the Forestry Commission team at Whinlatter has been working closely with local Parish Councils, police, and the County Council over a number of months.

A spokesperson told the Keswick Reminder: ‘The Forestry Commission has been granted planning permission to build an overflow car park, which will increase the parking capacity at Whinlatter Visitor Centre by 70 spaces. The car park is currently being built below the existing car park, with trees along the roadside screening cars from the pass and ensuring there is limited landscape impact.

‘In addition to the extra car parking for peak times, the LNDPA has also granted planning permission, on the basis that a traffic regulation order was in place, for the Forestry Commission to operate the car park.

‘This has been arranged by Cumbria County Council and double yellow lines will be painted along the Pass to ensure that potentially dangerous verge parking is eradicated. This work will be carried out in the next few weeks’.

Car parking charges at Whinlatter Forest Visitor Centre and Revelin Moss car park have remained at 2011 levels and are in line with the National Park and National Trust. All the money raised from car parking goes back into maintaining the forest and visitor facilities. There is also the option to park at one of the outlying car parks in the forest and walk or cycle up to the main visitor centre. An annual Discovery Pass for Whinlatter gives visitors free parking all year round and costs just £40. The pass can be bought from the visitor centre or online at http://www.foresty.gov.uk/discoverypass…’.

don’t understand why people park on the roadside, if you don’t want to pay, park at the bottom of the hill don’t cause an obstruction 🙄

with trees along the roadside screening cars from the pass and ensuring there is limited landscape impact.

Its not like Forestry Commision actually chop trees down or anything?
🙂

+1 to not parking on the roadside.

Discovered the other day that if you help out with FC trail-building sessions, you can earn a free car-parking pass. 3 build sessions = pass for 1 forest. 5 sessions = North of England pass.

PARADISE/PARKING LOT.

I didn’t enjoy the Whinlatter MTB circuit very much so I’m not likely to be hurrying back there. In fact I can quite happily entertain myself in the Lakes off road on a bike without the help of a poxy trail centre! That’s not to say I hate them all…quite liked Laggan, but it was totally empty on the evening I cycled up there.
That one time I did go to Whinlatter was a bow to peer pressure from a house guest. I was quite happy to pay to park but the car park was full so I had to go further up the Pass and I managed to park perfectly safely in a layby where I caused no problem to anyone. The other time I was there was to support someone doing the Fred Whitton challenge and once again the car park was full so we parked on the road. It was fairly chaotic but everyone managed without the help of double yellow lines.

What they are outlining in the link above is a pretty scummy attempt by vested interests to ensure they milk money out of people seeking to engage in outdoor pursuits.

WHO NEEDS DOUBLE YELLOW LINES IN A WILDERNESS FFS? LDNPA ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING THIS PRECIOUS LANDSCAPE AND ALL THEY CAN THINK ABOUT IS MAKING BLOODY MONEY. THERE IS A VERY DEEP CANCER AT THE HEART OF THAT ORGANISATION.
Isn’t there Bob?

There has to be a balance but it should always favour preservation, they always seem to manage to come down on the side of money. Isn’t that strange Bob?

Maybe someone called Bob has something to do with this problem!

Maybe Bob should go!!

good measure i think

What they are outlining in the link above is a pretty scummy attempt by vested interests to ensure they milk money out of people seeking to engage in outdoor pursuits

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect people to pay for parking at Whinlatter.

Centres like this don’t just exist by magic.

A lot of money is needed for building, maintenance, improvements etc

Billyboy, nice rant but the measures seem fair enough to me. Ive seem silly parking on the verges around Whinlatter.

Yep needed to be done the verges were a mess and it was getting dangerous on BH weekends. As for double yellows spoiling a wilderness, its a forest of non native conifers, get a grip.

Is there not a free car park to the west on the way to Lorton anyway? I biked up past it last time I was there and it follows one of the sustrans routes.

Thanks for the rant appreciation comment.

The point is that this is a wilderness location. You are viewing it soley in the light of the mtb trail centre being there. I agree it’s fine for folk using that to pay for it. The trail centre is a side issue. Surrounding it is the wider issue of a wilderness to which the public have access. Putting yellow lines there purely to ensure you are milking the pockets of a single purpose user of what is a very small trail comparative to all the other trails/paths in that range of hills, is not fair on all the other users. Unless you are saying we must now PAY to go for a walk, which LDNPA seem to be increasingly doing. It has the effect of resricting access. It is not good…AND…… DOUBLE YELLOW LINES on a Lakeland Pass????
They are not thinking straight.
Money is clouding their judgement.

Bob is to blame.

Not a nice man.

He lies aswell.

&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf]Winlatter

Don’t you mean pay to go to Go Ape or the Cafe? There are loads of places that you can park for free in the lakes but lots of the places in Honeypots you have to pay for. Sounds good to me.

you can park at the bottom of the blue route for free here
I think charging to park at the visitor centre is fine, money goes into developing stuff.

I’ve never been too bothered about trail centres before, but discovered the massive advantage when going there with my 3-year old son. I could go for a ride with him, then I head out on the Altura trail and he plays in the activity park thing. Everyone’s a winner.

Billyboy, sounds like you don’t like Bob. Who is he?

So billyboy what do you suggest doing about the parking problems at Whinlatter? I think describing it as a ‘wilderness’ area is a little ridiculous as well TBH.

And if you want to enjoy the most popular bits of the Lakes without paying for parking there are plenty of places you can get to by public transport.

The excessive parking on the verges was becoming a little bit of an issue so I can see their reasons for doing what they have proposed. Although I always liked the wee layby just down from the centre that was free and could quite easily hold a few cars if sensibly parked.

I find their parking fees a little steep so if i’m going up on my own I will find a place to park to avoid them. I know of plenty.

Nice to see the “get-it-for nothing brigade” in full swing. Paying to park is small fry compared with free use of the facilities.

Discovered the other day that if you help out with FC trail-building sessions, you can earn a free car-parking pass. 3 build sessions = pass for 1 forest. 5 sessions = North of England pass

This

going to be discussing it on Sunday on the Gisburn dig day. I’ve already got enough dig days logged from last year to get the full pass, might even make the effort to get up to Whinlatter now.

I’m not against paying to use facilities or for parking but when I go up on my own for a quick spin round the loop paying £4 or more is a bit much. When with a group it’s not so bad but still a but pricey compared to other places that i’ve been.

The car park is too expensive, I’ve used the verge outside instead. If it had been £2 or £3 I would have paid to park. I dont feel guilty, and wouldnt block a Lakeland pass, but this isnt pristine wilderness, it’s a hill covered in crops that are regularly harvested. The area has a road through it and a load of man made bike trails, what else could be done to make it less attractive?

Having said that, a good otion is to park nearer the bottom, ride up and join the south blue loop and then finish off with a ride down Seldom Seen, great piece of trail.

They had to do something.Last few times I’ve been, cars had been parked on the road along to the crest of the hill. Stupid and dangerous.
I witnessed a near accident involving a bus coming up what was essentially a single lane – the car going down did well to stop.

Get fitter and have more fun – Powter How. 😀

Wilderness? It’s a 15 min pedal from my front door and there’s a cafe, bike shop, education centre, go-ape etc on site. As a local I’ll take yellow lines over stingey chumps double parking on the grass verge.
I’m Bob, and so’s my wife.

” +1

ir_bandito – I thought that was our little secret? 😉

Hmm, its obviously all a conspiracy as everyone knows that you can build and maintain a trailcentre, visitor centre and cafe without having to spend any money whatsoever…how dare they make you pay to park there 😉

Grum………….public transport from/to Broughton is highly threatened and clinging on by it’s fingertips. Granted the rail line is still there for up and down the coast but getting to central Lakes is a no no.

Yellow lines are done and will ‘mellow’ I’m sure.
Folk are just parking on the verges going up the last climb now, creating a genuine hazard and chewing up those muddy verges.
Muppetry

Sorry Paul. 🙁