As the UK’s first National Park Visitor Centre, Brockhole-on-Windermere has provided millions of memorable experiences for visitors and local people since the National Park Authority opened the site in 1969.
However, like many businesses in Cumbria, Brockhole’s costs, both staff and non-staff, have continued to grow, creating an unsustainable operation for the National Park Authority, which is a public sector organisation with decreasing government grant funding.
The Authority’s Members have agreed to market the whole Brockhole site on a long-term lease, including the white house building. On-site tenant operators, Zip World and Windermere Lake Cruises, will be unaffected by the changes, and visitors can continue to enjoy the outdoor Brockhole experience throughout 2025, including new outdoor catering from Joey’s, lakeshore activities, Easter hunts, the free adventure playground and Halloween spooktacular event.
In advance of this, the Authority made some operational and staffing changes to ensure the site remains viable in the 2025 season. Unfortunately, nine staff based at Brockhole have been affected by redundancies.
Chief Executive of the Lake District National Park Authority, Gavin Capstick, said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly and is the result of a long, thorough consideration of a wide range of alternatives. However, despite our hard-working, valued staff adapting to changing trading conditions over the past few years, we are currently forecast to make a significant loss. This is simply not sustainable and risks our ability to deliver other services across the National Park.
“We remain committed to providing long-term public access to the grounds, lakeshore and heritage, and are confident a new operator will continue to provide a fantastic Lake District experience for the hundreds of thousands of visitors to Brockhole every year.”
School trips will continue on-site during 2025 by the outdoor learning team and bookings are unaffected by proposals.
The long-term lease for Brockhole will be marketed by Savills real estate in March 2025. Proposals will be considered by Authority Members in late 2025.
The Lake District National Park Authority receives a fixed National Park Grant from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Funding for National Parks in England is expected to be cut by 9% next year (25/26) – for the LDNPA this will represent a 53% real terms reduction to revenue grant over the past 15 years.
The Authority also receives income from a number of other sources, including car parks, public toilets, project grants and occasional capital funding from government, which is expected to be a one-off increase next year. Although a welcome contribution, the capital grant will not fully offset the significant impact of the long-term revenue grant reduction. This financial pressure on the Lake District, alongside other National Parks, results in difficult decisions being taken to prioritise what it can and can’t deliver for the people, nature and sustainability of England’s largest National Park.
Brockhole outdoor experiences are open to visitors in 2025, and you can find details on all the attractions still available on its website www.brockhole.co.uk.
Find out more about the marketing by Savills real estate: Savills UK | Savills appointed to work with Brockhole Lake District Visitor Centre
Photo shows: Brockhole-on-Windermere:
