We have just passed 1,000 signatures. It took three days.
Thank you to every single person who has signed and shared. A thousand people in three days is not a neighbourhood grumble. It’s a thousand people saying the same simple thing: developments in a National Park should not be able to skip the checks everyone else has to pass.
To anyone just joining us: a 50 pitch campsite is due to open on 15 August on grassland beside one of the oldest houses in Bowness, Grade II listed, inside the Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a newly designated conservation area. There was no planning application. There is nothing anyone could object to, and nothing the National Park Authority could refuse. The planning authority was notified, not asked. Two years ago, five houses on the same field needed a heritage statement, an ecological survey, a tree survey, a drainage report and a highways assessment, and were refused. Fifty pitches needed one email.
This is not just about one field. There have been 47 of these notifications to the Lake District National Park Authority this year alone. The New Forest National Park has already closed this loophole across its entire park. It did not ban campsites. It simply means anyone who wants one applies, and gets assessed, like everyone else. We are asking the Lake District to do the same, and the Authority has said publicly that it is considering the issue over the coming months.
So right now, numbers matter. If you have signed, thank you. If you can share this with one more person today, please do.
We are not asking for a ban. We are asking for the same planning scrutiny as everyone else.
Close the Pop Up Loophole campaign, Bowness-on-Windermere
change.org/ClosePopUpLoophole