Derek Farman's National Park pay as you enter idea', (Letters, February 11) is far from the "only solution" to the LDNPA's "financial black hole". Indeed your paper of the same date quotes the LDNPA's corporate finance director, Kerry Powell, addressing a special meeting of the authority on February 7 and insisting there is "no financial crisis but admittedly difficult times ahead".

Since tourism is the mainstay of the national park's economy, yet another ill-conceived scheme to deter tourists from the area should be opposed, as it does little to help the tourist industry and the economy it supports and also flies in the face of the LDNPA's access for all ideal.

One must also look at the practical implications. "There are not that many routes into the park", states Mr Farman. In fact, a quick look at the OS maps show over 100 roads and almost uncountable green lanes, tracks and bridleways, so pay points may not be the solution.

The only comparable scheme in the UK is the London Congestion Zone and Mr Farman wants this to be implemented in an area of 900 sq miles I think not.

He allows local residents the courtesy of being exempt of any charges. Why? If I drive from my home in Windermere to White Moss, park my car and walk up Loughrigg Fell, am I any different from a resident of Kendal doing the same? Why penalise those who for many reasons do not live within the National Park boundaries?

Other schemes would spring up everywhere. Would not Mr Farman be horrified to be stopped at Plumgarths roundabout while heading into Kendal, charged £2, given a bag to take his litter home in and a map in case he got lost.

Surely Mr Farman would accept a fairer solution, whereby we charge people for what they use. Why look to America or London when there is a model much closer to home Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Could we implement such a scheme here?

Everybody, whether local or visitors, must buy an armband or swipe card of points. Let's say £5 buys 100 points and these are then used to purchase' access: 10 points to swim at Millerground, 25 to shop in Hawkshead, 50 to walk on Catbells and 100 for those seeking the thrills of Striding Edge or Hardknott Pass.

A suggestion such as this would of course be met with the response that it would turn the Lake District into a theme park, which I am sure we do not want. Likewise the Lake District is not a museum or a congestion zone that Mr Farman's admission charge' implies. The Lake District National Park is an area of outstanding natural beauty that is protected for the benefit of the nation as a whole.

Though I am not offering a solution to the financial crisis that may or may not exist. I respectfully suggest that a scheme such as Mr Farman states as the "only solution" should be dismissed since there are others equally as ridiculous but primarily and quite simply because it will have the most detrimental and devastating effect on the economic well being of those who, like Mr Farman and myself, live and work in the National Park and upon the economy of the county as a whole.

Graham Wilkinson, Windermere n Many will empathise with the sentiments behind Derek Farman's pay as you enter' revenue-raising idea for the Lake District National Park.

My guess is the set-up costs would be so astronomical as to render the idea a complete non-starter, to say nothing of environmental issues. And there are political implications: eg the thorny issue of charging people for access to a vast tract of countryside over much of which they already have a right to roam' anyway.

Brian Adams, Underbarrow n Derek Farman's proposed a Pay as you enter' scheme for car-borne visitors to the Lake District National Park is not new any more than the scheme, mooted in the early nineties by the then National Park Officer, for a bed tax, but it might be timely to weigh up the pros and cons once more.

In the meantime I would point out that there already exists a scheme which supports a great deal of conservation work that is carried out in the National Park. This scheme is administered by the Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership through its members.

The Partnership, now comprising the Lake District National Park Authority, The National Trust, English Nature, the Cumbria Tourist Board and many tourism-related businesses, was established in 1993 as a means of supporting the maintenance and conservation of the Lake District landscape, upon which the tourist industry depends.

Core funding, which currently supports a staff of three, is provided through the membership fee, each business that signs up paying an annual sum commensurate with the size of that business.

Project funding is usually provided through a voluntary levy on the patrons of those businesses and sometimes generously match-funded by the businesses themselves.

Today there are 177 members and in the last 12 months the Partnership has raised well over £200,000 allowing for match-funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This may seem small fry by comparison to the overall needs of the various conservation bodies whose task it is to carry out the maintenance work, but at least it is a start.

Building on the success of the Partnership, it is our hope and our vision that conservation support becomes the norm for visitors and tourism-related businesses alike for the benefit of this magnificent landscape.

If we can achieve this then it is to be hoped that proposals for such schemes as charging for entry and bed taxes can be put on one side forever.

For details of membership and how to join please contact The Partnership Manager, Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership, Fisherbeck Mill, Old Lake Road, Ambleside, LA22 OD11 or email info@lakespartnership.org.uk Oliver Maurice Chairman of the Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership