Jane Austen fans have slammed National Trust plans for a new car park at a stately home made famous by Colin Firth in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice adaptation.
The 16th Century-built Grade I-listed Lyme Park, the largest house in Cheshire, is set among 1,400 acres of deer park, woodland and formal gardens and lake and was gifted to the National Trust in 1946 by Richard Legh, 3rd Baron Newton.
But the stately home became recognisable in 1995 as the ‘Pemberley’ mansion of Colin Firth’s ‘Mr Darcy’ in the BBC’s adaptation of Price and Prejudice – with Firth famously filmed swimming in the lake.
Now lovers of the house have hit out at a National Trust plan to build a giant 1065-space, hard-surface car park to replace the existing 395 permanent gravel spaces – consisting of a 375-space plot and one with 20 spaces.
Critics claim the new car park would permanently cover over 2.8 hectares of damp grassland, but only 1.7 hectares – the existing car park – would be re-landscaped to green space.
The 16th Century-built Grade I-listed Lyme Park, the largest house in Cheshire, is set among 1,400 acres of deer park, woodland and formal gardens and lake
Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Darcy from the 1995 BBC television programme
The National Trust argue they are not technically increasing their number of spaces at all, as they can already accommodate 1,065 vehicles if you include their ‘weather dependent’ grass overspill.
The National Trust plan to is make the same number of 1,065 spaces available all year-round in one connected, gravel or tarmac area, further away from the house than the current car park.
Yet a change.org petition against the proposals has already seen around 600 signatures, nearing its initial 1,000 signature target – while the planning application consultation has seen around 300 letters from the public.
The petition calls on the National Trust to withdraw this ‘ill-considered application’ and put forward an alternative plan for access which ‘truly reduces the impact of motor vehicles on this special place and has sustainable travel at its heart.’
Organiser Anthony Sheridan said he was a regular visitor to Lyme Park and he wanted the public made aware of what was being proposed.
He said the plans ‘would result in a major net loss of green space, even more traffic on local roads, even more cars travelling even further through the park.’
Mr Sheridan added that ‘no complementary measures whatsoever are included for cycling or sustainable travel and these plans would even make access more difficult for non-car visitors.’
He went on: ‘These plans go against key aims of both the Peak District National Park and National Trust to combat climate change, provide sustainable access to the countryside and reduce the impact of cars on our precious green spaces.
‘The proposed location of this super-sized new car park makes no sense for anyone.
‘It would destroy peaceful walking and cycling routes into the park, be a permanent visual blight from the surrounding National Park moorland, and require all visitors to walk half a mile with steep hills – or use a minibus – to access the actual house.’
The scene in which Colin Firth emerges from a lake in Pride And Prejudice
Social media page Peaks & Puddles has also voiced dismay at the plans, saying: ‘The plans restore green space to the current car park beside the hall, but spread human impact much further into the park.
‘The entire beautiful space up at ‘The Knott’ would become a huge permanent car park. That lovely group of trees? Suffocated by tarmac and gravel parking.
‘Rather than reducing impact of cars, all visitors would be forced to drive nearly 2 miles into the park, past the hall, up to this huge new parking landscape – which would also turn a safe, well-used cycle route into the park into a hazardous, noisy, ugly place.’
The current car park is situated close to the hall and connected gardens – in an area known as the ‘Swine Ground’ – which is accessible after a mile-long drive from the Lyme Park entrance gate off the A6.
The new car park would be situated to the west away from the hall in an area known as ‘The Knott’ which is the park’s former Dressage area, an area currently a mixture of grassland and moorland.
A planning statement says a new car park is needed to accommodate the pressure of more than 330,000 visitors that come to the park each year, which continues to grow. They also believe the current car park’s location detracts from the history of the hall.
As well as the new car park, the development would look to create a new hall and garden entrance and reinstate the current car park as parkland.
The application states: ‘The Trust are proposing to improve the quality of car parking at the Lyme Estate to bring it into line with the expectations and requirements of a contemporary visitor.
‘The proposals are part of a wider strategy to enhance the setting of the historic and cultural assets and will see the relocation of the existing car park out of the flood risk zone, allowing a culverted watercourse to be re-opened and the restoration of the ‘Swine Ground’ to its former natural condition.
‘This will enhance the setting of the Hall and its surroundings by removing the visual intrusion of the existing car park and is particularly important given the importance of the house and the gardens it occupies.’
The public consultation period is being run by the Peak District National Park authority and ends on April 28.
A National Trust spokesperson responded to the petition by saying: ‘The proposed project aims to maintain the current number of visitors who arrive by car, and not increase car parking spaces.
‘We’ll continue to work with individuals and partners to find more sustainable ways that people can visit Lyme now and in the future.
‘Climate change and extreme weather events increasingly puts places like Lyme at risk. The proposed project aims to help us adapt to the future by improving resilience to climate change, restoring the historic views of the house and upgrading our facilities.
‘We’re in desperate need to upgrade our facilities to ensure that the 300,000 visitors we welcome to National Trust Lyme each year have a great experience with us, while lessening the impact of busy days on our neighbours.’
* The petition can be seen or signed at change.org/LymeCarPark.
The planning application can be found at portal.peakdistrict.gov.uk/03230337.
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