PTN 03,June 2025

Penrith and Solway MP Backs Small Boats

While many MP’s are trying to stop small boats, Markus Campbell-Savours, MP for Penrith and Solway is trying to ensure small boats can continue to be used more locally on some of the lakes in Cumbria.

The Penrith and Solway is concerned that a new byelaw being proposed by the Lake District National Park Authority could see fishermen who use small powerboats banned from some of the smaller lakes in Cumbria.

The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) has carried out a consultation on its proposals to amend by-laws to prohibit the use of powered vessels on the smaller lakes including Bassenthwaite, Buttermere, Grasmere and Elterwater.

A LDNPA report earlier this year said arguments between "drivers of electrically powered vessels and swimmers have been reported in recent years, including incidents where injury to individuals has been narrowly avoided".

The national park authority said "An amendment to the by-laws is necessary to conserve the amenity and natural beauty of the smaller lakes and their surrounding areas and prevent nuisance or damage to the smaller lakes.”

The LDNPA said exceptions to the by-laws would include the police, Environment Agency, any person taking part in rescue operations and any person employed by or acting with the written consent of the national park authority.

It added it has tried to help those with a limited mobility by accommodating aids such as hand-pedalled canoes and larger vessels.

Under the proposed ban, the maximum fine that could be issued for using a powered boat on one of the effected lakes would be £500,

Markus Campbell-Savours said: “I think this proposed byelaw is a mistake with the potential to unfairly hit fishermen, many of whom have been responsibly fishing the lakes and rivers of Cumbria for generations.

“I want members of the LDNPA to meet me at Bassenthwaite so they can see that any fears about noise, safety, or the environment, in relation to small Lakeland fishing boats with electric motors are misguided. This proposed byelaw will unfairly impact people who the national park should value as an important partner.

“It was in fact the late Bob Smeaton and other fishermen who alerted Dale Campbell-Savours MP to the perilous state of Bassenthwaite in the 1990s, which ultimately secured the upgrade of the sewage treatment works at the east end of the lake.

“I say to the national park authority - far from being a problem, fishermen are our eyes and ears – or as one Keswick fisherman put it to me – ‘we are your canaries in the coalmine.’”

The changes in the byelaws are proposed for:

Bassenthwaite Lake

Beacon Tarn

Blea Tarn (Langdale)

Bleham Tarn

Brotherswater

Buttermere

Crummock Water

Devoke Water

Elterwater

Ennerdale

Esthwaite Lake