Author: Hanna Latty, Head of Strategy and Ranger team, Lake District National Park.
The Lake District is a special and unique place to live, those who are lucky enough to live here place a high value on having such a high quality environment literally on their doorsteps. Communities have been living and working in the Lake District for centuries; they are proud of being in the Lake District and have a strong local identity.
Yet many of the Lake District’s rural communities face a number of challenges. Whilst high visitor numbers can benefit communities, such as introducing some more public transport options to an area which would not otherwise be available and creating significant local jobs, the popularity of the Lake District can have impacts on communities. For example, pressure on and affordability of local housing, which has consequences on the age profile of our population which in turn can impact on available local services such as schools and GP surgeries.
Covid-19 has had an extreme impact across the Lake District economy which is why we have recognised the importance of economic recovery from the pandemic in the Plan, as there is still uncertainty about further impacts on business, employment and prosperity, adding to the pressures on people living and working in the Lake District.
Broadgate aerial - Adrian Naik / LDNPA
Solar panels at an electric car charging area - Adrian Naik
For communities and the economy to prosper, people of working age need to be able to easily access suitable employment. There is an urgent need to attract labour to Cumbria. As well as building a strong visitor economy, we need to enable a diverse range of business opportunities including working from home, and access to superfast broadband and good mobile phone coverage is fundamental to achieving this. Community and businesses will need to adapt to the changing climate and be effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, embracing green economic development could be critical to this.
In developing actions to address this challenge we have worked closely with the Business Task Force. We were also pleased to be able to seek views and engage with young people from the Futures Forum and representatives from the Lake District’s town and parish councils and Local Authorities. Everyone we have engaged with recognises the value and importance of this key challenge for the very fabric of the Lake District. For this reason, we encourage you to share ideas and get involved in local actions to help deliver Vibrant Communities and Prosperous Economy.
