The Partnership's Plan - Lake District National Park

Recent successes include:
• Increasing public participation in the discovery and enjoyment of the historic environment
of the NP through HLF funded projects Access to Archaeology and Ring cairns to
Reservoirs.
• Master planning – Bowness, Ambleside and Waterhead.
• Enhancement of Public Realm – Keswick Market Square completed in 2006, Derwent
Water Foreshore completed in 2009. Crescent Road, Windermere completed in 2008.
• Improving the quality of design – North West Development Agency funded programme
started in 2008 encouraging a new ‘design intelligence’ in the National Park. Good design
can reduce building costs both during constructions and on-going operation.
3.16.3 Opportunities
The Lake District is one of the richest cultural landscapes in England, reflected as one of the
National Park’s special qualities. The landscape, hand made over centuries by hill farmers,
inspired Romantic poets and artists such as Wordsworth, Coleridge and Turner. Battles over
its protection led directly to the development of the modern conservation movement and the
National Trust. This gives the Lake District an international significance which is being
addressed through the current bid for World Heritage Site inscription.
The historic environment is fragile and requires management and protection to avoid damage.
This must be based on sound information derived from survey and assessment, and the
National Park Authority maintains the Lake District Historic Environment Record for this
purpose. This also includes the results of the Lake District Historic Landscape
Characterisation project.
Bracken and scrub growth, animal damage, poor agricultural practice, mitigation of the effects
of extreme weather events and conservation of industrial sites can be tackled through agrienvironment
grant schemes and the Environmental Land Management Scheme where sites
fall within agreement areas. Some issues may require joint action and funding with partners,
including English Heritage, the National Trust, United Utilities, Forestry Commission and
others.
Development that is designed excellently, of the right type and in the right location, will add to
the existing high quality natural and built environment. National and regional design policies,
such as those in the Regional Development Principles, aim to secure high quality design. We
want to establish a reputation for design that inspires people to live and work in the National
Park and enjoy it.
Often good quality design is not achieved because of high short term costs, which are not
considered against the long term economic benefits, gained over an extended lifetime and
through improved robustness. Design is about more than how a building or place looks. We
aim for development where inspirational design ensures it contributes to local identity and
incorporates sustainable development principles.
Our built environment is a central part of our cultural heritage, cultural landscape and sense of
identity. The availability of local materials has been fundamental in creating the local
vernacular. Whilst we are not suggesting that everything has to be built in stone, we are keen
to maintain and strengthen these distinctive characteristics, and this relies on a reliable source
of local material. We are therefore not basing our starting point for future mineral extraction
purely on economics.
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