Fears Mam Tor red routes could drive away visitors

The introduction of Derbyshire's first red routes at "inconsiderate parking" hotspots in the Peak District has left nearby villagers divided

Derbyshire County Council installed the markings in May after long-standing problems with parking from visitors to the national park - from congestion to blocked driveways to human excrement to toppled dry stone walls.

Some 161 fines have since been issued to drivers who have parked on the double-red lines in the Castleton and Mam Tor area, bringing in more than £4,500 from penalty charge notices.

But the introduction of the red routes has split opinion in Castleton, with some traders concerned that visitors might be put off.

Charles Mycock, co-owner of Dolly's Tearoom, felt the publicity had put off some people from visiting.

He said: "It hasn't made any difference to the parking, but the red lines have had publicity and the general public are thinking 'there's no parking at all in the village' and not coming.

"There is. There's two big car parks and there's also the roadside car parking, which isn't affected by the red lines.

"There needs to be better communication, better signage."

David Hubball runs the Carlton Emporium homewares shop in the village.

He feels the rising fame of Mam Tor has driven the need for lines.

He said: "I talk to my customers when they come in the shop and Mam Tor is a thing that everybody wants to do.

"The red lines are necessary. I've seen people park up there in atrocious places. It is very bad, parking in places you wouldn't dream of putting a car.

"We want people to enjoy the village and if you go somewhere and get a fine, psychologically, those people, they might not be so keen to come back.

"I'm worried about the spin-off of the bad vibe of getting a very heavy fine."

Victoria Turner, who runs the Silver and Stone gift shop, said the lines had helped make it clear to visitors where they could and could not stop.

But she felt while on the Castleton side of the summit, it was now "very clear" she said on the far side there "just isn't sufficient parking".

"It seems a rather mean trick to put all the red lines in when it could have been such a much better thing for visitors to create more parking on all those verges, which it used to be," she said.

"They could have spent the money better on installing parking and meters and charged, and the visitors would have felt far more welcomed instead of putting their backs up."

She added: "Everybody should be able to come and visit - it's just they all come at the same time."

Lifelong Castleton resident Julie Judge said problems with parking were "long standing".

She said: "It would make it very difficult for emergency vehicles should they be needed."

She sometimes drives a seven and a half tonne horse box up on the red routes and it is "extremely difficult" to get through.

"But it's not just the cars, it's the mindset I think as well, they meander all over the road, and they've been parking on grass verges, which has destroyed the grass verges.

"I think that the red lines are kind of like the only way we can tackle it and it's been a long-fought battle to get something done."

Keen walker David Clarke, from Sheffield, has been rambling in the area since he was a child and has seen a big change.

He said: "You saw very few people, farmers, the occasional walker, until the turn of the century.

"You've seen massive numbers in recent years. It's impacted on everything; parking, public transport, buses being able to get through because of parked cars, damage to the environment.

"It's sad that they've had to do that, but I don't think they've got any choice. Since the Instagram generation came along, the desire to travel hundreds of miles to see the sunrise over Mam Tor has gone viral, and it's unsustainable.

"There's only so far you can go to accommodate hundreds or thousands of people."

Charlotte Hill, the county council's cabinet member for highways, said the authority believed the enforcement was helping to address some of the "congestion challenges experienced" in Castleton.

She told the BBC: "It's actually less fines than we usually issue around that area, so what that means is that they have been successful in encouraging people to park safely and park properly across that area of the Peak District.

"People are taking the severity of the double red lines on board and are listening to what we've implemented there."

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