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Businesses prefer vehicle levy to tourist tax

Ed Hanson,in Keswickand
Evie Lake,North East and Cumbria
News imageBBC/Ed Hanson Gary Lovatt looking into the camera with a straight face. He is mostly bald with white hair on the side of his head and a white moustache. He is wearing rectangular glasses and is wearing a cable-knit grey cardigan over a polo shirt. He looks to be sitting in a kitchen which is slightly blurred. There is a large shelf behind him with bowls and Tupperware on it. BBC/Ed Hanson
Gary Lovatt said most tourists did not spend the night in the Lake District

Tourism operators in a national park have said a vehicle levy would be preferred to a tourist tax on overnight stays.

Local businesses got together at a Keswick Tourist Association meeting where the majority of members voted in favour of the car levy for the Lake District.

Chair of Keswick Tourism Association Gary Lovatt said "80% of the people" came to the Lakes for a day and so it would lead to more money, as a tourist tax would be limited to overnight stays.

While the meeting voted in favour of the levy, the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) said the plans could not currently progress but agreed to work with relevant authorities.

About 18 million people travel to the Lake District every year, which puts pressure on roads and the environment.

Steve Ratcliffe, director for sustainable development at the LDNPA, said the authority "does not have the powers to grant a vehicle levy in either Keswick or the wider Lake District".

News imageBBC/Ed Hanson Liz Weightman smiling into the camera. She has light brown, shoulder-length hair and is wearing a black padded coat and white jumper underneath. She is standing beside a rugby pitch with rows of white houses behind it. In the background there are mountains and the tops are covered in clouds.BBC/Ed Hanson
Liz Weightman said the levy would help out people living in the Lake District

Keswick Rugby Club secretary Liz Weightman said she believed the vehicle levy was a "good idea".

"I see it as a sort of crowdfunding where if everyone pays a little bit we'll get more money in the Lake District, which has got very few people living here.

"The people that live and work in the Lake District have to pay for everything that is provided and yet millions of people come here every year."

But Simon Stephens, creative director at Theatre by the Lake, said the levy would need to be "addressed with care".

"What we are mindful of is that there are plenty of locals who live outside the national park in Cumbria, but who visit the national park for local facilities, central services and cultural attractions like our own," he said.

"What we wouldn't want would be to penalise those locals."

News imageBBC/Ed Hanson Susan Green smiling into the camera. She is wearing a blue beanie and has large blue glasses on and a blue waterproof jacket zipped up to her chin. She is standing in front of a lake. The background is out of focus but people can be seen feeding the ducks. Mountains can be seen beyond the lake.BBC/Ed Hanson
Tourist Susan Green, who travelled from Wigan, said she backed a levy

Visiting Keswick from Wigan, Susan Green said she supported the idea of the levy as a way of giving back to the community.

"I think when you're using the facilities and you've got all these wonderful assets around, I think giving something back in that sense is absolutely fine," she said.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Watson, from East Yorkshire, was more sceptical and said: "If there was a proper way of sustainable travel in here with buses and trains, then it would be an option."

Watson said he did not think there was an alternative to coming in a car.

Ratcliffe said the LDNPA intended "to work closely with the incoming mayor on a variety of topics which affect the national park, including any potential visitor levy".

The Cumbria mayor is due to be elected in 2027.

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