New signs at Curbar Gap and Surprise View car parks hardly seems like a big deal, but look closely at the small print and you’ll find a shift in the Peak Park’s attitude to visitors and a quiet change in the byelaws.

Parking charges have now become legally enforceable, so if you’re planning on a couple of hours spent bouldering at Curbar or a route on Millstone and decide to skip the £2 charge, then you’re now looking at a £30 fine. It marks a toughening of the Park’s attitude, since the previous voluntary fee was dodged by a mere 10 percent of users. To enforce the charge, the Park is looking at hiring two independent revenue inspectors – or Traffic Wardens to you and me. Parking charges were originally seen as a way of generating revenue for conservation projects in the area, but there seems little evidence of this actually happening.

And with Park employees handing out tickets to Park users, what will happen to good relations between public and Rangers? The BMC has always campaigned for open and democratic discussion in how the Park is managed, so it’s a shame the Park has done this without prior warning. If you want to complain, then contact; John Bishop Recreation Facilities and Area Manager The Peak District National Park Authority Aldern House Baslow Road Bakewell Derbyshire DE45 1AE Alternatively email aldern@peakdistrict.gov.uk

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