Economic, Social and Environmental impacts of tourism in the Lake District.
Economic, Social and Environmental impacts of tourism in the Lake District
In the Lake District tourism is very important and has a significant impact on the local economy.
But there is concern about the Lake District and how much more development it can take from the tourism industry.
The Lake District remained relatively untouched until the 19th century when railways allowed the large urban population of Northwest England to visit the National Park. Tourism and trade rose in the 1940's and it was realised that the park would need some special protection to protect it against the dangers of becoming to built up and loosing its natural attraction and appeal.
Over 12 million people visit the park with 89% coming by car. The Lake District has 42,000 people living there.
In Cumbria the estimated amount of jobs that tourism supports is 42,000 or 17% I.E. hotels, catering and the distribution trade. Tourism also supports local services that are an advantage to the local's and well as tourists such as the busses and rail network and village shops and pubs, these all serve the locals of the Lake District as well as the tourists who visit.
People are however worried that, although tourism does allow for better services that benefit the community, like busses and trains and more jobs, the tourism industry may be ruining the local beauty of the Lake District and that any more developments such as roads, car parks, hotels etc may be adding to this problem. As well as building and infrastructure developments another thing that may be ruining the place is the erosion of footpaths, clearings being made in woodland for picnic areas and the fact that all these developments may be harming the wildlife that live there. I will look at this is more detail later on in my project.
The National Park local plan is seeking to better this problem by devising a Local Plan; it provides a framework that the tourism sector can develop in a way, which promotes the quiet public enjoyment of the national Park and at the same time supports local economy without spoiling the Lake District. These policies safeguard the natural beauty of the area which the tourism industry actually relies on for the future of tourism in the area, because if all the woodland is cleared for car parks etc then there will be no woodland for the tourists to come and see and if all the natural attractions are scrapped for hotels and pubs then there will be nothing for the tourists to come and see so there will be no need for hotels and pubs, so making the area more appealing to tourists could also be at the same time taking the appeal away as it becomes to built up.
There is plans for traffic management and tourism conservation meaning that although they are trying to conserve the countryside they are also making room for the tourist industry and so it can still thrive in this area as it is important to the local economy. But in cases where there are no way that they could find a solution that benefits both the conservation of the countryside would come first.
The national park authority deals with all the planning matters. Including waste. There purposes are;
* To conserve the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the lake district
* Promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the national park.
To make these policies work, the Authority must take the social and economic well being of the local communities into hand.
Any company wanting to build anything must have permission, so that the authority can monitor the developments and see if there are to many that the park is loosing its natural beauty, if anyone was allowed to build anything, then there would be buildings all over the place, even if they own the land they must apply for planning permission, and this is not always granted, like in these cases
* There is a species of animals residing there and it would upset their natural habitat.
* There is protected plants or trees
* There is a listed building there that would have to be modified of knocked down to make room for the development.
Planning details are usually followed up by a environmental assessment to see if there are any alternatives to the plan proposed, the affect that the development would have on the physical and human environment and how, if the development went ahead, how to stop any harm that would dome from ...
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* There is a species of animals residing there and it would upset their natural habitat.
* There is protected plants or trees
* There is a listed building there that would have to be modified of knocked down to make room for the development.
Planning details are usually followed up by a environmental assessment to see if there are any alternatives to the plan proposed, the affect that the development would have on the physical and human environment and how, if the development went ahead, how to stop any harm that would dome from the development. Applications for new roads also go through this process.
It is crucial in the preservation of the Lake District. Not many plans are approved because of the nature of the national park and the interest in conserving it;
Year
995
996
997
Applications received
,047
,041
,143
Applications approved
885
826
939
Even things like signs and advertisements must have consent, while some are necessary and acceptable, it is important that the character of the lake district is not spoilt by inappropriate signs and advertisements.
Wildlife
Wildlife in the lake district may be affected by tourism in that if new roads are built the wildlife living where the roads are built will obviously have to be moved from there natural habitat, to aim to stop this as I have said planning permission is required to build roads.
If the wildlife is not taken into account when planning permission is being assed the number of animals and birds living in the area would significantly drop with there habitats being taken away and destroyed, and this would mean that one of the attractions of the national park would be lost as lots of people come to see the animals like to bird watch and badger watch at night time, and this would mean the area would loose this tourist type. So By denying some things that would seemingly benefit tourism in the area, the national park authority is actually preserving the tourist industry by keeping the natural attractions intact that the tourists come for.
New roads; traffic management
As I have said 89% of visitors use there car to come to the Lake District, so the traffic must be watched and managed.
When the Lake District first experienced the tourism boom, it was expected that it would be walkers and cyclists that came to enjoy the area, since then car ownership has increased and more and more people as well as arriving by car, are driving to see the different attractions rather than walk.
There are a number of automatic traffic counters around the national park to help understand traffic movements. Traffic is greatest in the summer months.
Traffic issues
* Pollution
* Noise; peace and quiet is often given as a main reason for visiting the
park and so noise can ruin this.
* Visual intrusion; lines of parked cars can detract from the natural
beauty people come for and also roads have the same effect.
* Congestion;
* Parking; a balance needs to be found between parking provision for
Visitors and locals and the conservation of the natural landscape.
People come to the Lake District for the piece and quiet and the serenity and the opportunity for long peaceful walks and cycles. If there is noise by cars then this will ruin it and so it is clear to see why the authority is keen to monitor traffic.
But although it is easy to see why there would be a problem with new roads and car parks for the landscape, there is also a good side, better and more roads and car parks will not only benefit the tourists in that they will be able to get the lake district more easily and park more quickly, the locals will benefit in a number of ways. They will be able to use the new and better roads and car parks, and the more tourists come in the more job opportunities there will be for the locals in the tourist industry, like local shops, tour guides, and hotels etc. By this I don't mean that it is good that more hotels and local shops will be built, but if there is a low number of tourists coming in, then there will be little demand for shops and hotel rooms, meaning that staff wont get allot of work. But if there are more people coming to visit, there will be more demand and need for staff to serve in the amenities for the tourists.
However if the demand is more than the hotels, guesthouses and shops can cater for, then there will of course be more built and this is where the problem is that the authority is trying to solve. So it works for both sides new roads can help the tourism industry to flourish, and provide opportunities for the people living there, but it can also cause problems for the tourist industry in that if to many are built and to many people use them, the area will loose it appeal and the tourists will stop coming, and the national park will be ruined by buildings and road networks.
The tourist industry in the Lake District has helped pay for the public transport, and this is used by all the people, locals and visitors. And so this is a good thing mainly, because it gives people the opportunity to leave the car and use the bus or train to get around and this helps solve the problem of congestion and noise. Of course busses need roads and trains need rails, but the bus can travel the route of the roads and there wont necessarily have to be new ones built, and one bus can carry lots of people so there will be less traffic on the roads, the only thing is there will have to be a number of bus stops in areas of interest and this could ruin the landscape, but I don't think as much as the new roads and car parks would. Also the roads would have to repaired less and this would mean less disruption of the wildlife and the local community, because it is easy to forget that there people living here and it is a place where people live, not just a place to visit and so any work carried out would be an inconvenience for the locals, like if there was new roads being built then this would disrupt the daily life of the people living here.
The department for transport in 1998 identified the main issues of transport in Britain, it gave ideas on how to reduce dependence of the car, improving public transport and lowering pollution. The Lake District transport strategy has the same ideas, but on a smaller scale just for the national park. Its main aims are to increase public transport usage and to reduce car usage.
It also aims to better the public transport services, like provide more regular trains and busses, so that public transport is a realistic alternative to the car and just as convenient.
It also is trying to make using the train a more attractive way of actually getting into the Lake District from all around the country to minimise car usage. This would mean that the rail network would have to service the entire main town in the UK so that more people could use it and not need the car.
Of course the car is never going to be eradicated totally from the scene and some people are never going to find its convenience and ease bettered by anything and will continue to use there car, but steps like these can be taken to try to make car usage as minimal as possible and public transport as attractive as the car.
Once in the national park, then although car usage is a problem in people getting around the park, and the authority is keen to reduce this number, people that enjoy the walks are unconsciously causing a problem.
Footpath erosion
"Where vegetation and soil structure has been lost or substantially altered due to concentrated people pressures."
This can occur when there are to many people using the footpaths continuously, and with 87% of visitors to the Lake District using footpaths it is easy to see how this can happen in the national park.
Footpath erosion can cause huge scars on the landscape, which are now so large they can be seen on satellite pictures.
There are several things that make a footpath susceptible to erosion, which can be split into two types; Physical and human.
Physical
* Angle of slope
* Soil depth
* Soil type
* Drainage
* Compaction
* Climate
* Vegetation type
* Length of growing season
* Altitude and aspect of slope.
Human factors
* Visitor pressure
* Type of activity being carried out
* Proximity to car parking and other popular facilities
* Popularity of the route/walk.
* Winter use.
Footpath erosion occurs when the path is literally worn away by use. The process and the rate of erosion vary on the level and the type of initial vegetation. Regardless of the vegetation type as soon as the number of human feet exceeds the ability of the vegetation to regenerate then loss of vegetation will occur;
Level of use
Vegetation change
Soil change
Path
surface change
Low level use
Taller plants trampled down allowing more light to penetrate, an increase in other species follows
Soil structure begins to deteriorate
Narrow, covered with a variety of plants and grasses.
Moderate use
Trample resistant species increase others decrease, heather is more susceptible to trampling than grasses so soon dies out. Overall reduction in height and amount of vegetation occurs.
Soil becomes compacted so depth decreases. Water cannot infiltrate the firm surface as well so moisture content decreases. Soil less good for plant growth.
Bare patches appear, impact of heavy raindrops (rain splash) starts to wash out the soil. Puddles form as soil now less porous. Path widens as walkers avoid puddles and trample new areas. In winter frost may help break up the surface.
High level of use
All but the most trample resistant species die out, poor soil structure upland climate and continual trampling prevent re growth.
Soil structure breaks down as organism content is reduced. Few roots left to bind the soil; soil becomes sandier and is easily washed away.
Heavy rain is channelled into hollows and washes sand away eventually producing deep gullies. Gullies channel subsequent rainwater and are further eroded and increase in size. Walkers avoid worst areas so new ones are trampled path becomes very wide or parallel paths develop.
National parks were develop conserve and enhance the most magnificent landscapes and enjoy public enjoy using them. A seriously eroded footpath is evidence that the two purposes are conflicting.
Landscape managers don't restrict access, but aim to maintain the footpaths, which enables access, but without damage to landscape or wildlife.
In 1993 three organisations came together to work jointly on the maintenance of the footpaths. The National trust, English Nature and the Lake District national park authority. They all formed the Upland access management group.
Its aims were
. Agree principals to be adopted on the repair and maintenance of upland paths.
2. Establish criteria for intervening in the management of upland paths.
3. Recognise the best practice for the repair and maintenance of upland paths.
4. Encourage liaison and exchange ideas on all aspects of footpath work including training between the 3 organisations
.
They recognised the most damaged paths and recognised that it would cost £4,656,512 to repair them!
So as you can see footpath erosion is more serious than you think, and all it takes is for people to walk on the paths. So even though the authorities are trying to cur out car use, it seems all the types of transport even walking have their downfalls.
Funding for ongoing maintenance can be difficult to get. Its is actually easier to get funding for a path has been eroded terribly than to get funding to maintain the footpath so it doesn't get into that state!
It is nice for people visiting the area to be able to have everything they want all in one place but again it is easy to forget that if this was made possible then the area wouldn't appeal to a lot of the market who come for things like walks. For there to be any money made out of the Lake Windermere, then there must be hire shops and boats and things for the visitors to do on the lake, but these can make the lake look different and obscure its beauty, things like the boats will pollute the lake and people will drop litter and leave rubbish everywhere so there must be people to help clear this, this means that there will be jobs available not only to help the tourists enjoy themselves, but to clear the mess they make and make it nice for other people the next day, I suppose this is ok, as, as long as there are people to clean up, then rubbish is only a surface issue as it can be removed relatively easily and it is something that all tourist attractions must contend with. However wildlife on the lake will be disrupted and this is an issue that the authority has to deal with.
Next to the lake there is an arcade, which in my view is totally out of character but for it to be there the authority must have thought the benefits outweighed the problems it would cause, and I suppose that it brings a wider market in.
Boats for hire round the lake are good for the visitors and the locals could also benefit as they will be able to take there children in the holidays and weekends. A lot of the attractions round the lake are superficial like ice cream vans and fats food stalls, and these can be removed at a moments notice and as long as litter is kept under control, these pose no threat and are helping the tourist industry to flourish in the area by proving the tourists with a service they want and like.
All over the Lake District there are downfalls and benefits of tourism and all are linked in some way;
Good roads----easy for visitors to get in----------more tourism linked jobs--------(good for local area, bringing in more money and work.)----------more hotels and amenities needed---------more built--------even more jobs
But.....................
Good new roads--------spoil pretty countryside----------less visitors due to less attractive place to visit------------less demand for hotels and services--------no jobs for locals.
This example shows how there are two sides to the story and this can be done for hotels, signs and advertisements and footpaths and traffic.
The key is finding a balance between the conservation of both the tourism industry and the countryside. Which these organisations hope they are doing...
* Cumbria tourist board (encourages visitors to lake district, provides framework for developments)
* The national trust (conserving the national park)
* Lake district national park authority, (traffic management, footpath trust, development and planning.)
* British upland footpath trust (national trust, English nature and the national park authority)
All the organisations are involved in some way in conserving the Lake District. And at some point they all come together to help each other.
