Borrowdale, which is outside the eastern boundary of the Lake District, would be added to the park if plans go ahead. Photo: Edmund Hoare

Cumbria councillors have rejected proposals for enlarging England’s biggest national park.

They say it would lead to higher house prices and tighter planning restrictions, with decisions made by unelected authority members. Cumbria County Council’s cabinet announced its decision yesterday to oppose the extension of the Lake District national park and the Yorkshire Dales national park, part of which lies within the county.

Natural England, the Government’s advisory body on outdoor matters, is consulting interested parties on plans to enlarge the Lake District which, at 2,292 sq km (885 sq miles), is already the biggest in England.

But worries about the effect on residents in areas that would be brought into an extended park convinced councillors not to support the plans.

The county council asked for the views of local committees in South Lakeland and Eden, the areas proposed for the extensions. Both committees recommended not supporting the plans, saying there were reservations about the benefits to local communities of becoming part of a national park.

Labour Councillor Tim Knowles, the county council’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “While we do work closely and constructively with the national park authorities and Natural England, we feel we can’t support proposals that will take decisions out of the hands of democratically elected members and could have a negative impact on some of our local communities.

“The areas that Natural England is proposing become parts of the national parks are already beautiful and unspoiled areas of countryside and this won’t change if they aren’t incorporated into the national parks.”

The cabinet did agree to consider the possibility of establishing Orton Fells as an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Natural England is proposing to extend the Dales boundary to include the northern Howgill Fells and Wild Boar Fell and the Mallerstang fells, all of which lie within Cumbria. Also due for inclusion in the Yorkshire Dales are the Cumbrian Middleton Fell, Barbon Fells, Firbank Fell – the site of Fox’s Pulpit, a Quaker landmark, the lower fells between the River Lune and the M6, and Leck Fell which is in Lancashire.

The Birkbeck Fells and Whinfell, west of the M6, would form part of an enlarged Lake District national park, including the eastern Borrowdale, under the proposals. A small extension south-west of Kendal would take in Helsington Barrows, Sizergh Fell and the Lyth Valley. The M6 and the West Coast Mainline would then run through a narrow corridor effectively separating the two national parks.

Orton Fells, the upland limestone plateau through which Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk passes, could find themselves in either of the two national parks if Natural England’s plans are approved.