Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Location and Aims 17

Key Terms :

National Park

National park authority

Land ownership

Conservation

Planning permission

Building controls

Example / Case-Study :

Lake District National Park, Cumbria, NW England

Possible Questions :

Why were national parks established?

Why are some areas selected for special protection for tourism?

Weblinks

http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/index/learning/facts_and_figures.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/introducing-britains-green-belts-and-national-parks/7406.html

The Aims of National Parks

• To protect and conserve the natural scenery, wildlife and habitats within the National Park for future generations.

• To encourage the public to visit and enjoy the leisure opportunities offered by the National Park

• To help maintain existing communities within the National Park and their economic well-being

Some people say it is difficult to meet all these aims without some conflict – by encouraging more visitors this might spoil the natural scenery or cause problems for existing communities.

History : Britain’s National Parks were first established in the 1940s – and new ones have been added since then.

Location : They are all in areas of spectacular scenery which is protected from development which might spoil it. Most are in upland, hilly regions where the attractions of hills, trees and water combine. Though some like The Broads are low-land waterways.

How they Work : the land isn’t owned by the Government – it’s in private hands. But each park has a National Park Planning Board who have extra power to give – or refuse planning permission for new developments in their Park so they can control what is built and make sure it doesn’t spoil the area. They can also make sure new buildings are built out of local stone and painted traditional colours to blend in with the area – powers that don’t exist in areas outside the National Park boundary.

Who owns land in National Parks?

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Conflicts of Interest 18

Key Terms :

Conflict of Interest

Quarrying

Example / Case-Study :

Lake District National Park, Cumbria, NW England

Possible Questions :

How can tourism cause problems for some areas?

Do tourists always bring benefits to an area?

Weblinks

http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/conflictsoflanduse.pdf

BBC video clip on quarrying in a national park:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/yorkshire-dales-quarrying/4813.html

Conflicts of Interest develop when the activities of one group of people interfere and spoil the enjoyment of another group of people. They are common in national parks because so many different people want to use them for so many different activities. It is up to the National Park authorities to try to reduce these conflicts of interest.

People who pay to shoot grouse and

partridge on heather moorlands

Walkers and bird-watchers are worried for their safety – or that of the wildlife

Causes of the Conflict of InterestVictims of the Conflict of Interest

Visitors who focus on certain villages and park their cars on

grass verges

Local residents who can’t get out of their

drives or find car-parks all full

Visitors who think they can walk over any field in

a National Park with a loose dog

Farmers who find their lambs chased & killed by dogs and

gates left open for animals to wander onto roads

Visitors who light BBQs and drop

cigarettes carelessly

Forestry workers who have to put out fires in

woodland or on heather moorlands

Visitors who want to drive power-boats on

large lakes

Visitors who want to learn to canoe, wind-surf or fish on

quiet lakes

Quarry owners who want to extend their quarries and expand

lorry deliveries

Locals and visitors who don’t want any more of the

area spoilt with blasting, quarrying & heavy lorries

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Footpath erosion 19

Key Terms :

Footpath erosion

Grass die-back

Soil exposure

Heavy rainfall

Gulley erosion

Example / Case-Study :

Catbells Fell, near Keswick, above Derwent Water, Lake District.

Possible Questions :

How can tourism damage the environment?

How can the negative impacts of tourism be reduced?

Weblinks

BBC video clip of seeding grass by helicopter

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/managing-the-impact-of-tourism-in-the-peak-district-national-park/7411.html

http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/path_erosion_factsheet.pdf

Footpath erosion is a major environmental conflict of interest in many national parks. On Catbells Fell, near Keswick in the Lake District the hill is within easy reach of the popular tourist town and a fairly easy climb, so gets thousands of feet pounding the surface every summer leading to footpath erosion

The die-back of grass exposes the soil to the heavy Lake District rainfall, which erodes the soil into a gulley. Strategies to deal with footpath erosion are:

• Protect well-used paths with local stone to give a hard surface

• Spread people out over the area by having alternative paths and zoning cyclists onto harder wearing surfaces

• Re-seeding the mountain sides with fertiliser & grass seed by helicopter

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Managing Conflicts of Interest 20

Key Terms :

Conflict resolution

Time-zoning

Space-zoning

Rationing

Honeypot

Example / Case-Study :

Bowness-on-Windermere, Lake District

Possible Questions :

Is there anything that can be done about the problems that come with excessive tourist numbers?

What is a Honeypot – and does it bring benefits or problems?

Weblinks

BBC video clip resolving conflicts of interest in the Yorkshire Moors

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/yorkshire-dales-conflict-resolution-in-the-farming-community/4815.html

Honeypots : A honeypot is a place which attracts a very large number of tourists. It may be due to a Physical feature (such as Flamborough Head) or a Human feature (such as Alton Towers). Attracting large numbers of tourists to a certain feature place can bring lots of benefits (customers for hotels, restaurants and tourist shops) but also lots of issues – such as congestion and prices in shops being raised which local people have to pay.

In the Lake District there are many conflicts of interest around Honeypots. In places like Bowness on Windermere they try to concentrate facilities for tourists such as car parks, toilets and street cleaning. In other places the National Park authorities don’t improve areas so that visitors are persuaded to go somewhere else so you don’t get too many people at any one place. This is known as ‘rationing’ and can help disperse visitors.

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Honeypot Bowness-on-Windermere 21

Key Terms :

Accessibility

Tourist facilities

Tourist activities

Pedestrianisation

Gateway car-parks

Example / Case-Study :

Bowness-on-Windermere, Lake District

Possible Questions :

Is there anything that can be done about the problems that come with excessive tourist numbers?

How is one honeypot dealing with the issues it faces?

Bowness-on-Windermere is a Lake District honeypot on the eastern shore of Lake Windermere because :

• It is on England's largest lake – Lake Windermere

• It is the first place visitors come to on a lake as they leave the M6 motorway so is very accessible by car

• It has all the features visitors expect from a typical Lake District location – lake, hills, trees.

• There are many facilities in the town for visitors – car parks, toilets, cafes, tourist shops.

• There are activities visitors can do – go for a walk along the shore, take a rowing boat, go on a lake cruise, explore the islands in the lake.

Problems of Bowness being a honeypot

•Car parks get full quickly – locals find it hard to park•Massive Traffic congestion in the narrow main streets of small Lake District towns in summer• Car-parks concentrate thousands of visitors into the same starting point for their walks so paths wear• Local people feel the town isn’t theirs in summer• house prices have gone up with ex-visitors retiring to the town – making houses too expensive for locals

Benefits of Bowness being a honeypot

• Businesses that rely on tourism get much greater income – hotels, cafes, souvenir shops, outdoor clothes shops, cruise boats, rowing boat hire….etc• Other parts of the Lake District are quieter as so many visitors just go to Bowness before going home• Key tourists attractions have been built in Bowness make more money from visitors – Beatrix Potter World (museum)

Plans to Manage Bowness Honeypot

• A one-way system round the town helps keep traffic moving smoothly• Plans to Pedestrianise the centre of Bowness• Creating ‘Gateway car-parks’ at the edge of Bowness to capture visitor cars as they arrive• Establish ‘year-round’ visitor attractions in Bowness to spread visitors through the year.

Weblinks

http://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/bowness-on-windermere.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/enjoy_cumbria/famous_people/beatrix_potter_attraction.shtml

Global Tourism : National Parks in the UK / Lake Windermere Speed Ban 22

Key Terms :

Speed limit

Power boats

Water-skiing

Compromise solution

Local businesses

Example / Case-Study :

Lake Windermere, Lake District

Possible Questions :

How has a conflict of interest been managed in an area you have studied?

To what extent have strategies to manage visitor pressure been successful?

Weblinks

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/mar/29/conservationandendangeredspecies.uknews

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/173/173549_speed_limit_crushes_windermere_tourism.html

http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/7987289.Windermere_speed_limit_still_divides_opinion_five_years_on/

In 2005 a 10 mph speed limit was introduced by the Lake District National Park Authority on Lake Windermere (6 mph close to shore). The effect was to ban speed boats and water-skiing on the lake – Englands largest at 13 miles long. This has been a huge Conflict of Interest which is still causing protest years later.

For the Speed Ban Against the Speed Ban

Canoeists, swimmers & wind-surfers who felt in danger from speed

boatsWildlife enthusiasts worried by the noise on nesting bird life

Residents who were disturbed by the

noise

Environmentalists worried the lake shore was being eroded

from the wake waves

Local businesses which hire out rowing boats, canoes &

windsurfers

Speedboat owners & water skiers who say this is the best and

longest lake in England

Hotel & guest-house owners who say

speedboat owners came to stay for

whole weeksBars & restaurant owners who say they’ve lost high-spending, young wealthy visitors in favour of lower-

spending older visitors Local businesses which sold petrol, repaired & serviced

speedboats & hired out water-ski equipment

Evaluation of the Speed Limit on Lake Windermere

•There are now more visitors going to Lake Windermere to canoe, windsurf & row than before the ban.

•There are fewer younger & wealthy visitors now – water-skiers

•Some people say that those who wanted quiet activities could use the other 14 lakes in the Lake District and leave the largest lake in England for power boats and water-skiing.

•Others say that Time-Zoning would have been a better compromise as the lake is often less used in the evening. Others say Space-Zoning could have been used – power boats in one half of the lake (or centre), and quiet activities in the other half