AN APPLICATION to turn agricultural land at Coniston into a seasonal car park has been refused by the Lake District National Park Authority.

The news that the application concerning Lands Field in Yewdale Road had been rejected was welcomed by charity Friends of the Lake District (FoLD), but will come as a disappointment to the residents who sent in representations in favour of the site.

The national park authority is to reveal more information about the reasons for refusal in the coming days.

A spokesman for FoLD said the 'impact on the landscape' and the 'potential precedent for more, similar proposals elsewhere in the national park' were among the reasons for the charity's satisfaction with the refusal.

The application from Mr P Johnston would have seen the agricultural land, which has seen use as a temporary car park this year, undergo a change-of-use to a 250-space seasonal car parking facility to be used between March 1 and November 5 of each year. The car park would have operated for an initial period of 1.5 years.

Among the people to write in in favour of the application was Pat Barr, of Torver, near Coniston, who said: "My regular visits to Coniston are usually short because of timed parking.

"A car park of this size and situation has been needed for a long time.

"It provides access to the village amenities.

"People visiting will make Coniston thrive instead of moving on because of lack of parking in the village.

"Coniston has so much to offer."

Amanda Brown also expressed support, saying: "I myself work in the village and, before it [the temporary car park on the land] opened, it was near impossible to park my car on a daily basis, and many times I had to leave it in places that I really shouldn’t have but had no choice as there was nowhere else to park.

"This did worry me, having to leave my car somewhere I shouldn’t, as I was worried that the locals might vandalise my car as they have to some in the past that have been parked in places that they shouldn’t.

"Luckily, I am now able to park my car every day, worry-free."

However, Coniston resident William Watson registered his 'strong objection', saying: "The problem with parking that the village has experienced had mainly been outside of the village, where people do not want to pay for parking.

"This application will do nothing to alleviate that.

"The unprecedented visitor numbers that the village has experienced this year is proven to be because of the pandemic.

"Any planning granted due to this unusual level of visitors would lack foresight as, once travel abroad returns to normal, so will visitor levels."

An application for a car park at Waterfoot, Ullswater, was also refused.