Lake District National Park marks 70th anniversary

"Striking the right balance" between development and environmental needs must be the priority for the Lake District National Park over the next five years, its chief executive says.

Richard Leafe said a focus would also be put on affordable housing to enable people to live in the area.

He described accommodating a mix of competing needs as "very demanding".

Mr Leafe was speaking on the 70th anniversary of the area being formally designated a national park.

Celebrations will continue through to August when the authority marks the 70th anniversary of the park's founding.

Mr Leafe said: "I think it's about striking the right balance between the needs of visitors, and the much-needed support people bring for the businesses that operate around that, and the need to preserve the right landscape.

"It's also about striking the right balance between bringing nature back while at the same time maintaining the best of our farming traditions.

"We are very well aware of the environmental limits and sensitivity to development, which means in certain places it is constrained. At the same time I think we've been quite creative in the way we've run our planning service.

"I'm sure many people would say the national park we've got now is a remarkable and wonderful place and, on the whole, over the 70 years we've managed to pull off the trick of keeping it great."

Just over 40,000 people live within its boundaries while the area draws about 19 million tourists per year, spending approximately £1.5bn.

However, campaigners warn the high cost of housing and properties being bought as holiday homes is problematic.

Mr Leafe added the organisation's new management plan would include recommendations aimed at ensuring "towns and villages remain vibrant with communities that can afford to live and work in the national park" while also giving "everybody in our society access to the park so they can enjoy the benefits".

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