Small Lakes byelaws consultation - Lake District National Park

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Home Explore Things to do On the water Lake byelaw enforcement Small lakes byelaws Small Lakes byelaws consultation

The Lake District National Park Authority intends to amend the Lake District (Smaller Lakes) Byelaws 1971). The amended byelaws will continue to cover all non-navigable lakes within the Lake District National Park. They will amend the definition of vessel and power-driven vessel, and the circumstances in which vessels may access the lakes.

The Lake District National Park has four navigable lakes, (Windermere, Coniston, Derwentwater and Ullswater), the byelaws on these lakes will be unaffected by the proposed changes.

The current byelaws allow electric powered vessels above and below the water, and remote-controlled craft. The proposed amendments mean that these would no longer be permitted. Since 1973 internal combustion engines have not been permitted on any non-navigable lakes within the Lake District National Park.

Update following the informal consultation

We have completed our informal consultation on the proposed changes to the Smaller Lakes Byelaws. We received 233 responses and as a result of comments received have made further amendments.

The results of the informal consultation have been considered by Authority Members who decided to make further amendments to the Smaller Lakes Byelaws. The revisions to the byelaws are now included and can be found on the small lakes byelaws page.

What are the next steps?

All documentation will be submitted to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), for consideration and approval. If approved, a further formal consultation on the final version of the Small Lakes Byelaws will be undertaken. Results of the formal consultation will be considered by Members and, if final approval is given, the Smaller Lakes Byelaws will be adopted.

We aim to submit the documents to DEFRA by the end of February 2026. We will update further once we have DEFRAs response