|
CONGESTION
charging schemes similar to that in London are being considered to prevent
traffic choking beauty spots.
The
daily u5 fee to enter the capital's centre has seen traffic fall by 20 per
cent since its introduction last month.
Now the
focus has turned to other parts of the country such as the Peak District,
Snowdonia and the Lake District where forecasts predict traffic will grow by
20 to 30 per cent over the next 10 years.
Derbyshire
County Council, which covers the Peak National Park, will soon launch a
scheme on a road to the Ladybower and Derwent Reservoirs, scene of the 1954
film The Dam Busters.
The
charge, which will operate on weekends and Bank Holidays, has yet to be set,
but the council says it is "pretty sure it will not be as much as in
London".
Motorists
who do not want to pay will have to use a free park-and-ride bus service.
Local residents will be exempt as will visitors to their homes. The Peak
national park receives 22 million visitors a year, of which two million make
the trip to the Upper Derwent Valley in 500,000 vehicles. Derbyshire
councillor Walter Burrows said: "This is having a devastating effect on
the environment.
If we
don't act now it will be too late."
Paul
Hamblin, of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, said:
"High
volumes of traffic are eroding the tranquility of the countryside and
robbing it of its character."
Watching
closely are those who manage traffic across the 840-square-mile Snowdonia
national park, which is visited by several million walkers, climbers and
other tourists every year.
Local
council member Dafydd Iwan said: "At peak times it's almost a free
for-all with roads strewn with cars and people parking on verges."
But the
RAC Foundation warns that without adequate alternative transport, such
schemes "could have the same economic impact as foot-and-mouth".
|