The wilful destruction of one of the loveliest places in Lakeland

2018

December

Sue Hayman MP, Shadow Environment Secretary, will pursue the issue with the all-party parliamentary group on National Parks.

November

A whole page full of letters in the Westmorland Gazette (15 Nov) replying to Richard Leafe, CEO of the LDNAP.
Our campaign is mentioned in The Times again, in an article about the Honister zip-wire.
Costly, large-scale repairs on the whole length of the Tilberthwaite track are now almost finished. If this is the response to our petition, it is the wrong one.
Richard Leafe, CEO of the National Park, says in an opinion piece in the Westmorland Gazette that the repaired track will be easier to drive on. Does he do it on purpose?
Our local MP Tim Farron has written to Michael Gove, asking him for better regulation for 4x4s in National Parks.

October

We have now had our first meeting with the National Trust - they are taking the problem seriously.
A welcome first step by the National Trust: a statement about (only) one of the green lanes on its website.
Chris Bonnington tweets his support: "Hi @LakesChief - 215,000+ people want you to protect thebeauty & tranquillity of the Lake District with a Traffic Regulation Order on two green lanes near Little Langdale. Will you?"
"Road rage as 220,000 put name to petition", article in the Westmorland Gazette (11 October)
ITV Border reports on the petition (230,000 signatures) and the reaction of the LDNPA.
An item on BBC Radio Cumbria ( 1 October). The National Park again avoids the crucial question: how can we protect the beauty and tranquillity of this area? Repairs are not the answer.

September

The National Park's new FAQ section explains why they want to protect 4x4 drivers and motorcyclists, Read details here.
On Landyforum, a forum for off-road enthusiasts, two active 4x4 drivers say they favour a ban on motor vehicles on our two tracks
"Ban 4x4 off-roading in Lake District, campaigners say. Article in The Guardian 14 September
"Driven off the land" - a six-page article on our campaign to save the Langdale Green Lanes in Cumbria Magazine

August

"Risk to UNESCO status must focus minds" - editorial in the Westmorland Gazette 16 August 2018. This is also the lead story on page 1 and page 2.
Cumbria County Council has published a notice of its intention to close part of the Tilberthwaite route to motor vehicles and horses from 31 August, for 4 months, to allow it to do the repairs. But repairs are not enough because they do not address the effect of off-road vehicles have on the beauty and tranquillity of our area.

JUNE

The World Heritage Watch Forum in Bahrain adopts a resolution on the ongoing degradation of the Lake District fells by recreational off-road vehicles.
'Farming Today' on R4 mentions a 4x4 problem on a track near Coniston. 'exposing steeply stepped bare rock'. (27th)
An article in the Heritage Journal about the violations of the World Heritage status.
More letters in the Westmorland Gazette, and a reply from Mark Eccles, Head of Park Management. After over a decade of protests he is still not ready to consider a TRO. No mention of the National Park's obligation to protect the beauty, peace and tranquillity of the Lakes rather than the interests of off-roaders.
The tracks around Little Langdale are not the only problem. For many years people living near the green lane from High Nibthwaite to Parkamoor have complained about the off-road traffic, without any result. This is what the track now looks like.
The Lake District National Park Authority is conducting a Local Plan consultation that will help shape the future of the Lake District. Please fill in the online questionnaire, particularly the questions on policies 01, 06, 19 and 22 - it won't take long.
We must make sure the Lake District is protected against off-roaders, zip wires and other blessings of civilisation.
World Heritage Watch, an NGO working for the preservation of UNESCO World Heritage sites worldwide, has just published its Report 2018. It contains a chapter on the Lake District - a cultural landscape under threat.

APRIL

Today (25th) the Westmorland Gazette has a piece about the farmer at High Tilberthwaite giving up his tenancy because of the damage and disruption caused by off-road vehicles.
A good article in The Times today (24th) about our campaign.
Over 6,000 people have now signed the petition. A big THANK YOU to everyone.
As the report on BBC NW Tonight made clear (17 Apr) the LDNPA is siding with the off-roaders. Despite the damage to these fells and the farmer driven from the farm, it's apparently enough to encourage responsible use.
Chris Packham tweeted: 'Very sadly we are reaching a point where our NP’s aren’t fit for purpose ... it’s time the mice that are meant to run our NP’s learned to roar.'
BBC News Online is prominently running the story about the letter to UNESCO (see below). The National Park Authority is sticking to its line: 'We encourage users (i.e. off-roaders) to behave responsibly.' Which they haven't for 17 years.
Local residents and campaigners have written to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, pointing out that the National Park is violating the terms on which World Heritage status was granted. Click here for the text of the letter.

MARCH

Support from the Wainwright Society: they have written to the Nat Park, asking for a TRO.
The Friends of the Lake District will now actively support our campaign.
The National Trust is looking for a new tenant for its High Tilberthwaite farm. The previous tenant could no longer cope with the volume of 4x4s coming through the yard and destroying the track. No suggestions how anybody else can make this work without a ban on recreational motor vehicles.
The Farm is managed under a High Level Stewardship Agreement, with special responsabilities for looking after the farm and the landscape.
The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) has been aware for 10 years that the 4x4 traffic on the Tilberthwaite track tripled between 2004 and 2008 - and they did exactly nothing, The data now released (in response to a Freedom of Information request) show an increase from 30 to 90 4x4s a month for the first seven months of 2008, with the number of motorbikes staying the same at 80 a month. The LDNPA will still not publish data they hold for 2017.

FEBRUARY

The National Park Authority is now saying it will only publish the monitoring data 30 months after monitoring started, more than twice the time other National Parks have taken.
Over 4.000 people have now signed our petition.
The National Park is refusing to release the most recent monitoring figures for the tracks, which it started recording in June 2017. Not in the public interest, apparently.

JANUARY

The Yorkshire Ramblers write to the CEO of the National Park. Reply: we'll decide by November 2019,
The farmer at High Tilberthwaite, whose farm has been particularly affected by recreational 4x4s, has now given up the tenancy of this National Trust farm. The damaged track prevents him from taking up feed to his stock, and the constant traffic through the farmyard makes running the farm extremely difficult.

2017

DECEMBER

The Fell & Rock Climbing Club, the oldest and largest mountaineering club in the North of England with over 1100 members, writes to the CEO of the LDNPA asking for a consultation about a TRO.

OCTOBER