No 'suitable' bids were received for Stickle Tarn

A Lake District beauty spot will remain in public hands for the time being after national park bosses failed to find a suitable buyer.

Stickle Tarn had been put on the market by the Lake District National Park Authority, along with seven other properties it owned.

But the authority said it had not found a buyer who satisfied its own stipulations and those of local communities.

It has, however, sold two properties to private buyers and is looking at a charity as a potential owner for a third. No bids were received for four of the parcels of land that were put on the market.

A Lake District National Park spokesperson said: “We have received a number of tender bids [for Stickle Tarn] and have given these careful consideration. However, at this stage we do not believe we have found a bidder who fully meets both our requirements and some of the concerns expressed by the local community and various interested parties.
“We have listened to the community and taken on board their feedback. We remain committed to exploring alternative responsible ownership for Stickle Tarn and will work with the community and interested groups in the coming weeks.

“In progressing the tender process we made sure environmental protection and rights of way would be protected and the public’s enjoyment of the land would be unaffected in line with the vision for the national park.

“This forms a key part of our strategy to ensure we hold on to the right pieces of land for the right reasons and to release funds for reinvestment and other improvements in the park. 96 per cent of the park is in alternative ownership, demonstrating we do not need to own the land ourselves to actively conserve and maintain it.”

It said a charitable body had made an offer for Blea Brows, which it believed met both its requirements and addressed concerns expressed by various interested parties.
“We believe this body will be a suitable future owner for Blea Brows, but at this stage we have not made a final decision and plan to discuss the potential sale further with the local community before doing so.

“We anticipate these discussions will progress during the next few weeks.”

Longbridge, Portinscale and Lady Wood, White Moss, have been sold to private buyers.

No tenders were received for Blue Hill and Red Bank, Yewbarrow Woods, Waterside Knott and Baneriggs Wood.

The spokesperson said: “It is still our intention to sell these properties and we remain confident we will be able to secure future responsible owners for them.

“We are currently reviewing the feedback we have received and are in discussions with our agents on how best to achieve this while maintaining all our commitments to the future care of these sites.”