Visitors to one of England's largest and most popular national parks could soon be charged an entry fee, for the first time ever.
Officials from the Peak District National Park Authority are seeking government support to implement the fee, which they say would help revitalize the park's finances after multiple government cuts.
The Peak District National Park is visited by millions of hikers, campers, and runners each year, but claims to be in dire financial straits. Its authority has been forced to make multiple redundancies and cuts in recent months to fall in line with government cost-cutting measures.
Chief Executive Phil Mulligan says a charge of only 10 pence per person would "more than make up" for government cuts, while a £1 charge would all but eliminate the need for the government grant that currently funds the park.
He told DerbyshireLive: "We have had ten years of real terms government cuts in the grants that go to English National Parks, with nearly nine per cent cut from this year’s revenue grant alone.
"In the Peak District National Park, we have around 20 million visitors a year. If we had 10p from each visitor, that would more than make up for the cuts the government is making to our core grant.
"If we were to make it £1 per person, then we would not need any core government grant."
Official figures indicate that the park, which covers 555 square miles (1,437km2) of idyllic Northern English wilderness, is visited by roughly 13 million people each year, not 20 million.
National Parks in Britain and Northern Ireland don't currently have the power to charge visitors, so any change would need to come through the British government.
"The future sustainability and sufficiency of the current funding model is in question so we need to be asking the bigger question: how does the nation want to pay for National Parks to remain here for everyone, forever?" continued Mulligan.
The Peak District was officially recognized as the UK's first National Park in 1951 after a hard fought campaign that included the Kinder Trespass.
It's home to many miles of stunning wild landscapes, including broad moorlands, steep valleys, and rolling hills. Visitors can enjoy hundreds of pleasant hiking trails and plenty of scenic camping spots.
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