UKH

So a lot of organisations both locally and further afield seen to be 'putting in plans to safely open car parks'. Theres also a few places local to me that are deciding to keep them shut.

Now maybe i'm missing something but car parks are probably one of the simplest things to do (just unlock the gate) with very little social distancing and it strikes me that people will be travelling and keeping car parks closed a great way to ensue traffic chaos!

Have I missed something?

Perhaps that the car park itself is not necessarily the point?  The National Trust tried to keep their car parks open back in March so that people could come and enjoy a socially distanced stroll around the grounds of various properties of theirs.  They had to reverse that policy shortly afterwards because those places became 'honeypots' making proper social distancing difficult to observe for visitors.

Supermarket car parks are still open, but they've been modified.  People aren't going there to visit the car park itself, they're going to park the car and then all walk in to a building through the same door - so depending on the layout of the place some of the parking spaces have been fenced off and given over to managing the queue to get in to the shop on account of its reduced capacity to safely accommodate a lot of people.

I'm interested to see what they'll do in the Lakes. Since the infection rate here is relatively high and no businesses are open, there isn't a great deal of appetite for inviting folk back into the area. I'm expecting car parks to remain shut as a polite signal that might be read as "f*ck off from Cumbria". 

Whether that's justified or not, I don't really have a view, but I can certainly see the Tim Farron perspective.

So no businesses are open for visitors to go into, locals are presumably having nothing to do with visitors "because they're all ridden with covid-19", yet the infection rate is relatively high.

Ever thought that the cause may be more locally based ??

Maybe you've got asymptomatic carriers at a local distribution depot or supermarket ? Maybe it's the milkman ?

Course you have. The point is that when you can't sell them anything, all visitors are bringing is additional risk of infection - there is no benefit for locals of having tourists around atm, but there is more risk. So it wouldn't be rational to welcome them with open arms. 

My view is that it's perfectly possible to go to a national park to enjoy the outdoors without creating any material risk of transmission. But I also know that lots of tourists will just hang out in crowded places and pop into shops, garages, etc, when they could have brought a packed lunch. This is what happened just before lockdown and it's bound to happen again.

So I can see both sides, they both have a valid point. I also think it's an absolute pigs breakfast of public communication that the PM should say "go to the Lakes" when the local MP says "please stay away".

How much PPE is required for a spot of dogging?

I’d had thought any face mask would be counter productive when sexylad_169 is trying to capture the money shot on his iphone 

I'm just waiting for the complaints about people parking roadside because the car parks closed! People are coming so why not cater for them safely! 

The car parks will soon be full of disposable gloves and masks if they open. 😕

I cycled through Ambleside to Gt Langdale on Sunday.
 

Based on that experience, I think your chances of seeing a local, never mind actually interacting with one are nil; locals are observing a very literal lockdown, so I saw one farmer and three dog walkers in two hours. The only shops open in Ambleside were the Spar and the deli, both of which had social distancing measures in place. Most car parks were closed, and often barricaded or blocked off - the National Trust is very thorough.
 

So in practice the only thing visitors will be able to do is park up, and then walk or climb. Which is a good thing.

MRT are saying now that they would rather visitors did not come now (Wasdale team on Border TV)

also

https://twitter.com/MountainSJA/status/1259762291542822912

basically Boris didn't give the people and services concerned enough warning or consultation

as for climbing - OK if it's with someone in the same household unless you're constantly sanitising your gear and the holds otherwise it is very hard to see how you're distancing unless you belay each other on parallel routes and climb in rubber gloves

He didnt communicate or consult with Mark Drakeford or Nicola Sturgeon - did you really expect him to ask the head of Wasdale MRT?**

** Rhetorical question; I'm pretty confident you know the answer........

apparently not the Cabinet either!

though I was referring to a top down approach and consultation then cascading, rather than top shouting straight down to everyone in Wasdale!

they aren't there to be consulted or informed; just to take the flak in interviews and say "yes, Boris / Dominic" for brexit issues.

Well you've certainly got the top down approach.......not sure about the rest.