As a co-author of the report to World Heritage Watch on the future of the Lake District (Letters, 19 June), I believe it is important to clarify that although conservation forms a major strand of the report, the impetus behind it deals with much more than this.
Many of us who live and work here have observed the escalation of tourism to a point that is unsustainable. Hyper-tourism drives the loss of community infrastructure, yet there is continuing pressure to attract even higher numbers. This also has deleterious effects on wildlife, which is disappearing at an alarming rate.
It must be acknowledged that part of the cause of such losses is unsustainable farming practices, but human disturbance plays a significant part; hardly anywhere here is off limits. It is a deep irony that a place considered wild and natural is actually anything but.
Our report also discusses the dire state of housing, yet housing is vital to sustain viable communities. There are now almost 14,000 Airbnb properties in the Lakes. In some communities all former council houses are second homes and local people – members of my family included – are priced out.
How do we expect young people to stay and work here, or pensioners who cannot afford market rates to continue living in their home areas? Ironically, such inflated housing costs affect the very families that world heritage status seeks to preserve – the children of farming families, many of whom can no longer afford to buy in the places that their ancestors lived in for centuries. These are serious concerns and should not be underplayed.
Dr Karen Lloyd
Kendal, Cumbria
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