Rob said:
Isn't the elephant in the room actually that there is very little 'congestion' in the Peak District??? Or am i missing something?
I think if the public transport services were
demonstrably improved across the board, and not just for Castleton and Bakewell but the smaller towns in the centre too, then a 'car charge' for visitors
after that might become more acceptable, as clearly alternatives were now easily available. After all, new bus routes need to be offering services to
locals to move easily between Peak District communities, as well as encouraging folks from Sheffield and Manchester and other big towns to use the bus and train instead - and for them to hopefully venture further into the interior, and know that they can definitely get home again. Getting stranded out there is always one reason why folks don't do it - it's happened to me. I would hope that locals (and regular visitors like us, haha!) would be able to apply for exemptions.
Obviously topography and cost mean train services can only improve on current lines, but the frequency on the Hope Valley Line is probably already adequate (every hour), given fast trains run in-between them. Of course if they hadn't closed Woodhead Tunnel, a huge amount of more northern areas could be covered for tourism. One hilarious and expensive option would be to reopen the Buxton to Derby line, calling at Monsal Dale, Millers Dale, etc. But given the trackbed is the only path most visitors would choose to walk, all other options involving slopes, and given it's also a popular cycling and disabled route, good luck with that.
The only real 'congestion', in the normal sense, is Castleton, and it's almost entirely due to Winnats Pass, as it's demonstrably a 'driver attraction', even though at least half of the users shouldn't be allowed anywhere near it, up or down. The S-bend around the Chapel and school doesn't help either, and two years ago we had a very large topstone smashed off our garden wall in front of our eyes by a large camper-van that refused to stop afterwards. Though the side of their van must have looked wonderful, and I hope it cost a packet to repair. It was so large we had to winch it back on up a ramp.
So driving wardens stationed in Castleton, armed with large metal sticks and powerful lasers, I would definitely support