Latest news with #FriendsOfTheLakeDistrict
BBC News
19-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Lake District landscape charity launches litter survey
A landscape charity has launched an online survey in an effort to get a clearer idea about the scale of littering and illegal camping in a national of the Lake District said it wanted to find out whether people living in the area think the problem is becoming more findings of the questionnaire will be used by the organisation to campaign for measures such as more frequent visits to hotspots by rangers, tougher action against anyone found to be responsible for leaving a mess and more effective prevention roadsides and lake shores are among the areas commonly seeing problems, it says. The group said people leaving rubbish behind, as well as those camping without the landowner's permission, "seems to have grown as a problem" in recent added it comes "in the wake of a slew of social media videos of influencers sharing their experiences" in the area without sharing how to visit responsibly and follow the Countryside Code" – a set of guidelines aimed at protecting the role of influencers has been in the spotlight and in May the Lake District National Park Authority announced it would pay some to help discourage people from fly camping and littering. Wildfire risk Kay Andrews, the organisation's engagement lead said: "The lasting effects of leaving rubbish in the landscape aren't just visual."Litter can kill wildlife and livestock, damage soils, leach into water systems and cause health hazards, while barbecues and fires can easily cause wildfires in summer."When people act in such a thoughtless manner, it ruins the enjoyment of the beautiful countryside of the Lake District for other visitors and causes affected communities stress and upset".Posts about the Lake District are incredibly popular on platforms such as Instagram, with about 6.4m tags for the location used, compared to 2.4m for the Peak District and 1.9m for Northumberland. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Kendal Georgian street Thorny Hills gets heritage 'dark sky-friendly' lights
Heritage street lighting that is "dark sky friendly" has been installed on a 200-year-old of Thorny Hills in Kendal, Cumbria, asked for their modern lights to be swapped to something that would have appeared there in the 19th lamp-posts, which stood in a conservation area's street lined with Georgian terraced listed buildings, were damaged and shone light into nearby windows."We love the fact that they are energy-efficient and dark sky friendly, whilst still casting sufficient light on to the street for pedestrian and road users," said residents Anna and Gavin Haworth. Kendal is one of the towns included in Dark Skies Cumbria - a project that aims to save energy, safeguard wildlife and decrease light restored cast iron columns, originally manufactured in the Whitehaven Foundry, were refurbished and repainted. The new lights dim by 50% from 21:00 to 6:00 to cut electricity consumption and reduce the impact on nocturnal wildlife such as bats and project was carried out by Westmorland and Furness Council and Friends of the Lake District."We are committed to reducing energy consumption, carbon emissions and light pollution and are delighted we have been able to work with partners on this scheme," said Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Thornton. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
