Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Jon Cooper
The East Midlands Mayor and High Peak’s MP have criticised Derbyshire County Council Leader Alan Graves for an old statement he made about introducing a congestion charge for motorists entering the Peak District as the treasured national park looks at how it might increase funding.
Labour Mayor Claire Ward, of the East Midlands Combined County Authority, has insisted ‘it won’t happen’ and High Peak Labour MP Jon Pearce argued the Reform UK leader’s suggestion is ‘not on the side of working people’ as the issue of raising money for the county’s Peak District National Park resurfaced around its 75th anniversary on April 17.
Cllr Graves said as long ago as May, 2025, that he would back the idea of visitors to the Peak District National Park being charged up to £1 just to go there even though he conceded it would be difficult to police and implement and that any such plans could not afford to frighten anyone off.
Ms Ward posted on Facebook on April 17: “Alan Graves, Reform UK leader of Derbyshire County Council, wants to spend public money installing cameras to bring in a congestion charge.
“Whether it’s a visit to the Peak District for the day or popping to the shops or work, Reform want you to pay to drive. I wont let that happen.”
The issue resurfaced ahead of the Peak District National Park’s 75th anniversary celebrations marking its designation as such on April 17, 1951, and after Peak District National Park Authority Chief Executive Phil Mulligan has said raising taxes to help fund national parks is an obvious and very fair solution to ease its financial challenges.
The Peak District was given a multi-year settlement this year, which was welcomed by leaders, but it followed cuts to the number of staff rangers.
National Parks England says national parks have lost about 40per cent of their budget in real terms since 2010 and a report by the four national parks in the country marking the 75th anniversary of their designation is expected to call for firmer and more sustainable funding.
Mr Mulligan has said working to ease pressures like overcrowding, dangerous parking and wildfires against declining funding has been challenging alongside expectations to deliver more public services.
Ms Ward who does not support the suggestion of a vehicle charge has said it would only raise a couple of million pounds a year, according to her office’s estimates.
Instead, she is backing Labour Government aims to introduce the levy on overnight trips – dubbed as a ‘tourism tax’ – to help create an income for regional mayors to boost growth, including the Labour-led East Midlands Combined County Authority which oversees Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
High Peak MP Jon Pearce has also this week criticised Cllr Graves’s old proposal to introduce a charge for vehicles entering the Peak District.
He said: “By contrast, Labour are investing in sustainable transport to give people a genuine alternative to their car. Our £6 million ‘mini-Switzerland’ project will deliver buses and trains working together on simple, reliable, clockwork timetables, with better connections, less waiting and joined-up tickets.
“That is the best way to tackle congestion and make visiting our amazing National Park sustainable – not taxing them for the pleasure. Once again, it is clear that Reform are not on the side of working people.”
However, Derbyshire County Council did actually vote by a majority in February in favour of calling on the Mayor to scrap Government proposals for a ‘tourism tax’ on overnight visitors to the county and its Peak District as part of national budget plans.
Derbyshire County Council’s Conservative Group Leader, Cllr Alex Dale, won the backing of the controlling Reform UK county council at a meeting at County Hall, in Matlock, on February 11, in his call for the local authority to lobby the East Midlands Mayor to scrap the plans after outlining how he feels it could damage tourism in Derbyshire and the Peak District.
Reform UK Leader, Cllr Alan Graves, said at the time: “We as Reform councillors have raised concerns about proposals to impose a tourism tax on the Peak District creating an unfair burden on businesses and families struggling with the cost of living.”
He added it risks discouraging visitors while doing little to address infrastructure challenges and he added that feedback has shown a ‘tourism tax’ will be another cost that people cannot afford, hitting those on the lowest incomes.
Cllr Graves added that asking people to pay more with a ‘tourism tax’ to visit will add to their tax burden and not protect the Peak District at a time when more should be done to support tourism and jobs by not pricing people out, or reducing numbers and harming the local economy.
The County Council Leader has since pointed out that Derbyshire County Council cannot raise money directly for the Peak District National Park and it has been reported that the Peak Park Chief Executive has been making the case that the authority cannot continue with a frozen grant which Cllr Graves say, in real terms, is a cut once inflation and other rising costs imposed by Government are taken into account.
Cllr Graves also highlighted that a report also explains that core funding has fallen by six per cent.
Following criticism of Cllr Graves’s statement from May, 2025, concerning possible visitor charges, he explained that he had been asked whether he would support a visitor charge for the Peak Park and his was that visitors would likely be willing to pay £1 if it went directly to the Peak Park Authority.
He added: “The same question has arisen again, and my position remains the same. My only concern would be how such a charge could practically be collected, although there may now be technological solutions that could help facilitate this.”
Cllr Graves argued that the conversation appears to have been diverted from the real issue which he says is how the Government ensures the Peak Park receives adequate funding.
He added: “It seems increasingly difficult to discuss serious matters – in this case the future of the world’s first National Park – without political point-scoring taking over. I believe this issue deserves a proper and serious debate.
“The reality is that this Labour government is underfunding the Peak Park. That is an argument I could have focused on entirely. Instead, I was asked to discuss possible solutions.
“If national Government and the East Midlands Mayor are unwilling to close the funding gap, then it is entirely reasonable to consider other options for protecting this national treasure.
“Jon Pearce, as one of their MPs, could raise the matter directly with Government, and Claire Ward has access to new regional funding that could help. If those options are not forthcoming, then we must work together to find ways to support the Park. My preferred position remains simple: fund the Park properly.”
Ms Ward joined forces with Mr Mulligan in November, last year, to hear from council leaders at a packed event at Bakewell about the travel and transport challenges faced by their communities in Derbyshire’s Peak District and how they might be overcome.
That event at Bakewell Town Hall was part of the new Peak Partnership between EMCCA, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire mayoral areas which aims to support the Peak District with improved cross-county transport links to boost visitor economies, education and skills training.
Mr Mulligan has said the Peak District can bring a great sense of happiness for visitors but through inaction there is also a risk of harming the area with issues about how people travel to the region, where they go and how they behave.
He stressed those with an interest need to get more people in and out of the Peak District without using cars so there is a need for effective, reliable, affordable and desirable integrated public transport that supports a growing economy but at the same time car parking needs to be increased too.
Mr Mulligan said: “The Peak District National Park has been here for the last 75 years and we intend to be here, going from strength to strength, for the next 75.
“This National Park is not just a great place to visit, its critical for national infrastructure, for national security and national health and wellbeing.
“Over the last 75 years hundreds of millions of people have experienced the awe and wonder of this special place whilst we have helped create nature rich habitats, restored moorlands, reduced flooding, provided clean drinking water and preserved important aspects of the cultural heritage of the nation.
“I’d like to thank all the staff, volunteers, farmers, land managers, business owners and local communities who have helped make all this happen. It’s a happy birthday for all of us.”
The Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has stated that it is providing an uplift of £23m to support the work of national parks, in addition to up to £400m a year which its says it is investing in restoring nature across the country.
