Poll shows broad support for Lake District visitor charge

A new poll of over 2,000 people shows that support for a charge on visits to the Lake District is high among both residents and visitors. Of those surveyed 68% of Cumbrian residents and 64% of past or future visitors to the county strongly support or tend to support a visitor charge to fund ways of protecting and enhancing the landscapes of the Lake District National Park, according to a poll run by YouGov for Friends of the Lake District.  

For Michael Hill, Friends of the Lake District’s CEO, “This is a clear signal that residents of Cumbria consider a visitor charge to be necessary and that visitors would be willing to pay, as they do in many cities and regions across Europe”. 

Choosing the fairest type of visitor charge 

When asked which form of charge would be fairest, those surveyed favoured a visitor vehicle charge over an overnight stay charge¹, with 44% voting for the former, and 34% for the latter. Many respondents felt a visitor vehicle charge would directly target the cause of many social and environmental problems (congestion, inappropriate parking, road disrepair, pollution, damage to verges) which also impact upon visitors’ experience of the National Park. Some also thought it was fairer, as day visitors in cars add to the strain on infrastructure without necessarily contributing much in economic terms. A visitor vehicle charge also rewards those who travel into the Lake District by train or bus and who would therefore not pay. 

Priorities for the revenues raised 

When asked how funds from a visitor levy should be spent, respondents favoured cleaning up the lakes (63%), improving transport (53%), and adding more rangers to maintain footpaths and clear litter (52%). Funds from a visitor vehicle charge could be targeted only at transport improvements, so this would address issues that are of high importance to residents and visitors alike.²  

The level at which a charge should be set 

Of those surveyed who support a charge, 34% felt that the maximum level at which it should be set should not exceed £2 while 45% considered a maximum charge of between £3 and £5 per visit to be appropriate. 19% were willing to go above £6 per visit. A charge of a few pounds could raise significant sums to help manage the impacts of tourism, given that there are 18 million visitors a year to the Lake District.  

Towards a visitor charge 

A Working Group established by the Lake District National Park Partnership³ has recently explored options to provide a substantial increase in funding and delivery of sustainable transport in the Lake District. It is hoped that its conclusions will feed into the development of a new Partnership Management Plan for 2025-30.  

“The results of our YouGov poll show that there’s strong support for a small Lake District visitor charge among both residents and visitors,” added Michael. “As the draft Partnership Plan is put out for public consultation this autumn, it is essential that it contains a strong vision of sustainable transport in the Lake District and a commitment to explore, in a timely manner, the implementation of a visitor vehicle charge. At Friends of the Lake District, we believe that this would be an important first step towards ‘regenerative tourism’, where visitors make a contribution towards improving the landscape they love.”  

Image: Cars parked on Elterwater common. Credit Malcolm Lamb.

Background and references 

To gauge levels of public support for a levy on visits to the Lake District, Friends of the Lake District commissioned YouGov to run a survey which comprised four questions which were designed to establish:

1. Level of support for some form of visitor charge in principle.
2. Preferred option for a visitor charge (visitor vehicle charge or overnight stay charge); with a follow-up question asking for the reasons why the preferred option is considered fairer.
3. Priorities for spending revenues raised by a visitor charge.
4. Views on the appropriate level at which a charge should be set.

The survey was completed by a total of 2,008 people, of whom 755 are resident in Cumbria and 1,253 have either visited the Lake District in the last 12 months or intend to visit in the next 12 months. Fieldwork was undertaken between 20th – 26th June 2025.  The survey was carried out online.

^[1] A visitor vehicle charge could be levied on entry into a designated area and / or for moving around within a designated area. The charge could be set at different rates for different categories of vehicles and / or for different times / seasons with exemptions for local residents, blue badge holders, emergency vehicles and public transport, for example. An overnight stay charge could be set at a fixed rate or as a percentage of the cost of accommodation and be charged per person or per room / apartment / campsite pitch. 

^[2] Improving public transport was the joint top-rated area for spending for residents, 61% of whom considered it to be a priority. A smaller proportion of visitors (48%) listed public transport as a priority, but this still ranked third among the issues that respondents could choose from (improving public transport; cleaning up the lakes; more rangers to maintain footpaths and clear litter; more affordable housing for local people; reducing flood risk; new cycle paths; increasing mountain rescue teams; more frequent boat services on the lakes; none of these; and don’t know).

^[3] The Lake District National Park Partnership comprises 23 organisations from the public, private, community and voluntary sectors with a collective commitment to work together in the best interest of the National Park, its environment, communities, economy and visitors.If you care about the Cumbrian landscape and want to see if protected for the future, why not join Friends of the Lake District today? For more information about how to join click here.