It will also advise people to park in alternate bays where possible, keep hands clean and use the MiPermit app to pay for parking where available. This can be downloaded from mobile app stores. The machines will only accept card payments. The app cannot be used in Fairfield (Sainsburys) car park or the Booths car park in Keswick. It also cannot be used in car parks which we manage on behalf of others. These are: Rawnsley Hall car park, Derwent Pencil Museum car park at Keswick, Irish Street car park and South Quay car park at Maryport. 

NHS staff, care workers and NHS volunteer responders involved in the Coronavirus response will be able to obtain a key worker parking pass from their employer under the government guidance, which will allow them to park for free on all of our car parks. 

Passes are available through NHS Trusts, local authorities and the Royal Voluntary Service. For further details visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-health-care-and-volunteer-workers-parking-pass-and-concessions 

A new web page is being promoted by the LDNPA http://www.saferlakes.co.uk/  which encourages people travelling to the Lake District to park safely and avoid the more popular destinations. 

More information on the MiPermit system is available at: https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/parking/parking-charges-and-ways-pay/ 

Car parks in Keswick 

The decision not to close two of the Keswick’s car parks has been taken to help manage the parking situation in the town in a way that best protects local people after the recent changes to government advice on travel. 

In line with our partners in the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), the council wants to make it clear that we are not encouraging visitors to the borough at this time. Infection rates and death rates remain high in the county and our infrastructure is built only for the permanent population. We’re asking people to postpone their visit until the time is right.  

We are supporting the LRF’s messaging to people who feel they must visit to respect local communities, respect the risk and respect the rules. 

By not closing car parks we are able to ensure people who do visit can keep apart more by reducing the number of people in car parks, the town centre and passing through the narrow passageways. It also helps avoid any issues of parking on double-yellow lines, residential side streets and on verges – which may result in accidents or conflict with local people for the police to deal with, potentially taking up valuable public sector resources.  

More parking spaces also means that if visitors do arrive in large numbers then local Keswick residents are more likely to find a space and be safe in other car parks such as at the Booths and the Rawnsley Hall facilities. We know in the past weeks, that some visitors who have been turned away from Central car park and simply driven round to Booths or Rawnsley Hall. Having them closed hasn’t prevented those visitors from staying, they have migrated to the other car parks.