National Park chief urges residents not to block car parks to visitors
THE CHIEF executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority said people risk promoting divisions by blocking car parks and displaying signs telling people to stay away.
David Butterworth said the Government have been clear that rights of way should remain open for local people to exercise.
He said: “Of course I understand why someone feels the need to take such action, but it is unhelpful for a couple of reasons.
“First, it pulls resources away from more important tasks and draws more people into the area than need be there, in order to deal with the matter.
“Second, and more importantly, the authority has a lot of car parks in remote locations, which may be required by the emergency services for the distribution of food, supplies and other resources to the Park’s more remote areas. That is why they have a ‘soft closure’ in place rather than permanent barriers placed in front of them.”
He urged residents of the National Park to show kindness, respect, and to hold on to their humanity.
Mr Butterworth said: “There’s absolutely no problem reminding people of the Government’s advice in terms of travelling and social distancing, but we need to be careful not to cause unnecessary divisions between deeply rural communities and market towns or larger urban areas.
“There is an interconnectivity here which we need to recognise and respect. Dales communities need the resources provided by our local towns whether they are supermarkets, chemists, Doctors or hospitals.
“We’d also hope to encourage people back into the park when the time is right.”
Councillors in and around the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors national parks said anxiety was mounting among residents due to a significant number of arrivals of people from places such as London and Birmingham, where rates of the virus are far higher.