PARK SOLUTION TO HOLIDAY HOUSING HEADACHE
The following letter was published in the Westmorland Gazette in May 2008. It was written by Skelwith director Henry Wild in response to an article drawing attention to the dearth of lower-cost housing as a result of people from outside the county buying holiday homes in Lakeland.
Dear Sir
Wordsworth wrong - but council right
Not much changes in 150 years, does it? You reported last week (Gazette, April 18) that the Lakes Parish Council are calling for a change in the law to stop more properties being used as holiday homes in the Lake District. The proposal would undoubtedly have met with the full support of William Wordsworth. In 1844, our celebrated poet led a vigorous campaign against the spread northwards of the railway network, complaining that it would bring the "uneducated masses" into his beloved Lakeland.
Clearly, concerns about the impact of tourism on Cumbria are nothing new. But whilst Wordsworth's objections were founded on snobbery, the Lakes Parish Council's anxiety has a far less self-centred base. Their concern isn't just with the threat of "ghost villages" being created by second-home owners and those converting their properties for holiday lets. They also highlight the erosion of our housing stock, mainly at the more affordable end of the spectrum, and the upward pressure put on house prices by demand from out-of-the-area buyers.
Few. I suspect, would challenge their contention that something needs to be done. At the same time, however, we can not ignore the massive contribution made by tourism to Cumbria's economy. Visitors to Lakeland currently spend more than £1 billion annually in the region, and support almost 36,000 jobs in the county. If tourism was to be actively discouraged, many businesses would be at risk, and job numbers would be diminished in an area where there are relatively few other employment opportunities. Tourism, simply, is vital to sustaining Cumbria's regeneration.
So where do we put them, given that B&B accommodation is finite, and not everybody can afford or wishes to stay in an hotel?
I would suggest that it's time to reappraise the huge and largely unsung contribution being made to sustainable tourism by our holiday parks industry. I am director of the Cumbria branch of the British Holiday and Homes Parks Association, of which there are 108 holiday park members in the county. Collectively, we accommodate around 40 percent of all overnight stays in Cumbria - and with a little more latitude given to our members' ability to develop, that figure could be even higher.
Better yet, holiday parks have none of the negative social impacts correctly highlighted by the Lakes Parish Council in relation to the holiday use of former residential properties.
Mr Wordsworth might have bridled, but parks provide an extremely accessible way to spend a holiday in the Lake District. You can pitch a tent or bring a touring caravan for a few pounds a night. You can move further up the comfort scale by renting a holiday home or timber lodge - or you can buy a similar holiday home to use throughout the year.
None of this affects in any way the residential property sector. And unlike the depressing visual presence of village homes converted for holiday use and thus empty much of the year, park accommodation remains largely hidden away. My own business, Skelwith Fold Caravan Park, provides 300 privately-owned holiday homes and 150 touring pitches just a few minutes from Ambleside town centre. Yet I would defy anyone other than our visitors to know how to find us!
There are an astonishing 8000-plus privately owned holiday homes on parks in Cumbria, and many of our members - largely family-owned enterprises like mine - have the capacity to increase this number of pitches without any detrimental affect on the environment. Indeed, a large number of parks - such as Skelwith Fold - have won praise and various "green" awards for their positive conservation work.
Sadly, we all too frequently come up against objections to such proposals - despite signs of a welcome change in attitude more recently by the National Parks Authority. The reasons given are many and varied, but we sometimes can't help feeling that there is a certain Wordsworthian distaste at the notion of encouraging visitors such as ours. It's a shame, because parks really do provide the means to maintain and increase Cumbria's tourism revenues, and to ensure that local homes are kept for local people.
Perversely, perhaps, it is Wordsworth's own residencies in Lakeland - Dove Cottage et al - that help keep our visitors coming. They support our county's businesses, and they keep thousands in jobs. Let's not put them off, but instead ensure that we offer a good choice of accommodation which preserves our heritage and doesn't damage our communities. Besides, there may be another aspiring world-class poet waiting in the wings. We don't really want him or her to think they'd be better off singing the praises of Devon's daffodils, do we?
Yours faithfully : Henry Wild
Director : British Holiday and Home Parks Association (Cumbria branch)
Skelwith Fold Caravan Park, Ambleside, Cumbria