The felling of trees has commenced as part of the (Planning Authority approved) extension of Dennis Knoll car park (under Stanage).
The car park extension will accommodate 59 cars in total (the current capacity is 10)
The works here and at the Hollins Bank (aka Plantation) car park are part of the PDNPA efforts to combat verge parking.
At Dennis Knoll they are decimating the verge and some woodland in order to create the car park.
At Hollins Bank they are opening and resurfacing an existing overflow car park.
There is currently very little to dissuade vehicle owners from verge parking anywhere in the National Park, and the Stanage North Lees Estate in particular suffers as a result of this. On any given day visitors will consciously choose to trash verges rather than use available parking spaces – the most cited reason being a point blank refusal to pay to park.
The County Council is considering implementing (via By-Law) a very significant fine for verge parking along the road under Bamford and Stanage Edge and near Burbage Edge. The fine far exceeds any other currently applicable in the region.
Viewed alongside the parking prevention measures around Winnats and Mam Tor (the west end of the Hope Valley), this fine along the ‘north’ of the Hope Valley and the lack of parking along the south of the Hope Valley will move the parking issues eastwards.
At the micro, local and strategic level none of this does anything to persuade people out of their vehicles. There is not a single project in a National Park in Europe where enforcement without provision of an alternative sustainable transport option has succeeded in reversing or removing the massive impacts of vehicle based visitation. None.