Last updated: 7 August 2020
We are welcoming visitors back to the Lake District. We are working with our local partners to put measures in place that will help keep people safe.
31 July 2020
“We know how important the National Park is to people’s health and wellbeing, however we ask visitors from areas where new restrictions are in place to consider whether their travel is necessary at the moment. We expect everyone who visits or lives in the Lake District to continue to observe social distancing, whether they have travelled from a ‘lockdown’ area or otherwise. This virus has not gone away, but if we all continue to social distance, wash our hands and wear face coverings, everyone can play a part in helping protect our local communities.”
“Please plan ahead to avoid the busy spots using saferlakes.co.uk, take all your litter away with you, stick to social distancing and show the respect and love to the Lake District that it deserves.”
Full details of the changes being introduced can be found on the Government's website.
Here is specific Government guidance on spending time outdoors
The Lake District National Park is open and tourism and hospitality providers are working hard to put new practices in place to help with social distancing.
The East Shore of Coniston (the C5018) has been closed by Cumbria County Council due to excessive and inconsiderate parking which has prevented emergency service vehicles accessing the area. It is only open for residents, emergency vehicles, cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians.
Some rights of ways are not being maintained in the usual way, as some staff are still on furlough.
Many paths are near to farmers and local people's homes and their families. We need to ensure that they are kept safe so please observe the new temporary signage. Resources for farmers and landowners can be found below.
Some alternative permitted paths have been made available to maintain social distancing and protect residents and local communities. If you see a sign for a permitted path, please follow the way markers along the temporary route. Maintain social distance and hand wash or sanitise after touching any shared surfaces in line with government social distancing advice.
Most car parks around the Lake District National Park are now open. We have put social distancing measures in place to help our visitors stay safe, including contactless payment options, 2-metre queuing signs and online information to help people plan their visit.
We are now patrolling car parks across the Lake District National Park daily and will update the status on each visit. If a car park is red, please do not travel to this area, choose somewhere less busy, you might discover a great new place to enjoy!
Most public toilets are now open.
Check which activities are allowed on which lakes across the Lake District
Please know your own capabilities on the water and do not place yourself or others at risk.
Emergency services may not be able to respond as quickly as they might have done before and this puts people at risk and is unfair to those that are volunteers in those services.
Our lake rangers are patrolling to support people’s safe enjoyment of the water and will enforce as necessary where there are clear breaches of the byelaws that impact on safety or have negative environmental impacts.
To protect staff and customers during the Coronavirus outbreak, new boat registrations cannot currently be undertaken at Ferry Nab or at the National Park office in Kendal. Renewals can be completed online. More info on renewals and new registrations on our Windermere registration page.
Wild camping is not permitted anywhere in the Lake District without prior permission from the landowner. As the National Park Authority we do not have the power to allow camping on private land and we do not permit camping on the land that we own. Camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time.
We are pleased that we will be able to start to welcome visitors back to the Lake District for overnight stays from Saturday 4 July. Many of our campsites will be reopening in a socially distanced way and there really is something to suit everyone in all areas of the National Park. We would encourage you to explore what campsite facilities are available before you visit, as not all businesses will be opening fully. Please keep up-to-date with current government social distancing guidelines and respect our local communities and our landscape.
From 4 July you can travel to and stay in a holiday home.
Brockhole on Windermere will be open from Saturday 4 July, every day through the school summer holidays from 10am until 5pm. Archery, laser clay, crazi bugz and the playground will be open, as well as a range of boat hire. The cafes and shop will be open, the main cafe will have a seated table service on the outside terrace.
The Brockhole website has all the details and pre-booking online for activities and boat hire.
The Gaddum Restaurant is opening on 3 August. Experience our stunning, five star reviewed Lake District Afternoon Tea at The Gaddum Restaurant with lake views over Windermere. Book your Afternoon Tea now for just £15 per person, 12 - 4pm, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday throughout August, saving a full £10 each on our usual price.
Coniston Boating Centre is now open for boat hire. All details and online booking available now at ConistonBoatingCentre.co.uk
Our information centres at Bowness on Windermere (10am - 5pm), Keswick (10am - 4pm) and Ullswater (10am - 4pm). You can contact our TIC staff for information about those areas of the National Park by email:
Or call our contact centre 01539 724555
Our guided walks are still suspended. We are looking at if and when we may be able to work with our wonderful volunteers to offer walks this year. Any announcement about walks will be posted on this page and on our guided walks page.
Welcome your visitors with a reminder to keep 2 herdy sheep apart for social distancing. A2, A3, A4 and 6ft banner sizes available to download.
We have 2 posters available to download and display on any rights of way. These are to help communicate the message of social distancing across the Lake District National Park.
Our committees are no longer meeting in person. Some meetings will be cancelled and this will be shown on that meetings page on our website. We are working on new ways to hold committee meetings and conduct Authority business using different forms of communication, like phone and web meetings. Some committee meetings will be going ahead in these new ways.
Planning services from 10 August 2020:
If you telephone or email us you will receive an automated message. We will review all messages, you may not receive a further reply.
Our small team has been working remotely throughout the pandemic and providing a full range of planning services. Over recent months the capacity of the team has been very significantly reduced by caring responsibilities as a result of schools being closed and for various medical reasons unrelated to the pandemic. We are suspending discretionary services in order to safeguard the core statutory decision making function.
We will re-introduce services as soon as we are able.
Thank you for being understanding, we appreciate that you may be disappointed, this is not the planning service that we want to provide and we look forward to being able to provide a full service once again shortly.
To support business recovery and aid social distancing the Government has granted planning permission for the temporary uses of land for an additional 28 days between 1st July 2020 and 31st December 2020. In combination with the 28 days already permitted, this means up to 56 days of temporary use in total may be permitted (subject to certain restrictions). Permanent works and buildings (including hard surfacing) still require a planning application.
The Government has also granted planning permission to for markets to be held by, or on behalf of, Parish, District and County Councils at anytime up to 23 March 2021.
See the planning permission granted by the Government
If you have any questions please contact our duty planner.
Please use email if possible - planning@lakedistrict.gov.uk
For queries needing immediate attention, our main HQ phone number
If you are sending comments, amended plans or other information in relation to an ongoing application, please forward those details to planning@lakedistrict.gov.uk
Please note, due to the rapidly changing situation the above approaches are subject to immediate change without notification or consultation.
Our contact centre staff are still available, but not in person. Please email us on hq@lakedistrict.gov.uk or call 01539 724555
Our volunteering service is suspending all activities. We are also currently not recruiting any new volunteers.
The Fell Top Assessor season finished early this year as people should not be using the fells during the Coronavirus outbreak. Weatheline will still show the met office weather forecast feed.
