The planning app for the National Trust's "biggest car park in the Peak District" in Lyme's beautiful green Knott area now weighs heavy at 200 objections (versus only a handful in support), but recent visits to Lyme have shocked me at the lack of on-site publicity.

Enter Lyme via any of the gates and there is no planning notice from the Peak District Planning Authority informing the public of the proposed development. Not even the usual blink-and-you-miss-it laminated A4 sheet.

Article 15 of the Development Management Procedure Order describes how local planning authorities should display notices on or near the affected land for at least 21 days. Has this not happened? I checked Red Lane, West Park Gate and the main A6 gate — nothing. Would you agree the public has not been adequately informed? Would there be grounds to extend the consultation period as a result?

• UPDATE: Thanks to an eagle-eyed visitor, a new-looking planning notice has been spotted on the visitor footpath from the main car park to the Hall. Oddly the consultation end date has been bumped again, to 19th May - an extra 21 days. Funny that!

Continue to the current car park, wander the Timber Yard, walk up to the Hall, explore its entrance spaces... no publicity whatsoever from the National Trust either. Given the huge upheaval this development would bring in both its construction and completion — possibility the biggest single change to the park's landscape in over 70 years, if not since the hall itself was built — the lack of publicity and pre-application consultation is astonishing.

The only mention from Lyme has been a single post on its social media pages, leading with the statement it would "help protect Lyme and places nearby from flooding". This application would actually only stop the car park from flooding, not the hall or gardens. A link to an exceptionally greenwashy page was included, along with an email address for comments (this call for input might've been more helpful before submitting the plans?)

This "Projects at Lyme" page isn't linked from Lyme's main website homepage. Instead, you need to select "About Lyme" and scroll down to a boring green box which reads: "We're pleased to announce that we've submitted a planning application to restore the historic setting of the house, improve Lyme's resilience to climate change, and upgrade our facilities."

On the page itself are subheadings including:

• "Adapting to the future" — by building only for cars, and with no EV chargers?
• "Respecting the past" — sure, moving the car park is a sound idea, but surrounding the most historic West entry route with a car park doesn't respect the past either.
• "Reducing traffic on the A6" — this application absolutely won't, it can only make it worse.
• "Supporting green travel" — this application does nothing — absolutely nothing — towards this.
• "Looking after nature"  — by proposing a major net loss of green space? 2.8ha lost, only up to a supposed 1.7ha gained.
• "Access for everyone" — by ignoring those who arrive by walking, cycling and public transport? And making it harder for many to walk from their car to the hall?

There's also a map of the overall masterplan, where the new car park is marked with a letter 'E' without at all showing its full extent. Again, no visualisations of what it'd actually look like are included. The only link to the actual planning application is hidden away on the very last tab of the timeline at the bottom.

I think what upsets me more than the fact I've had to start a petition against the National Trust — an organisation I usually really admire and enjoy the work of — is their outright dishonesty and a feeling of deception in their limited publicity of these proposals.

As I walked around the hall and parkland last week, passing countless other people enjoying a sunny day out, I wondered how many — if any! — knew what might be about to happen to this special place. To the people quietly walking and cycling through the Knott, I wanted to shout out loud "Have you heard they want to put 1,000 car parking spaces here?!"

Please continue sharing these pages and the planning application so that we, at least, can ensure the public are adequately informed.

I contacted the Peak District National Park Authority questioning the lack of site notices after originally posting this. See above for the latest update.