"What else is available to the highest bidder?": Campaigners call out Peak District authority over advertising stunt for Škoda
Peak District residents staged a symbolic protest this week after the Peak District National Park turned over some of its property to advertise a carmaker – which some say undermines efforts towards sustainable tourism.
National park signage was rebranded as the Peaq District as part of a temporary takeover, July 27 to August 2, to advertise Škoda’s new Peaq seven-seat all-electric sports utility vehicle.
The marketing campaign was purportedly designed to encourage more people to visit the park, celebrating its 75th anniversary, and Škoda sponsored free bike hire at Parsley Hay Cycle Centre throughout the week – but not everyone was swayed by the message.
A small band of protesters took their criticism on the road to Surprise View, near Hathersage, decorating the ‘Welcome to the Peaq District’ sign with their own, which read ‘National park for sale,’ and say they were greeted with honks of support from passing drivers.
Spokesman Harry Brook, who lives in the High Peak, said: “The Dark Peak’s internationally important peatlands have been burning for weeks, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere.
“As these landscapes continue to smoulder, it is difficult to understand why the national park authority has chosen to partner with a company whose core business relies on fossil fuel transport.”
While the Peaq may produce zero emissions on the consumer side, industry reports suggest that electric vehicles accounted for just 11 per cent of parent company Volkswagen AG’s total sales in 2025.
In the past decade, Volkswagen has also been forced to pay out more than £26billion worldwide in fines and settlements – including £193million in the UK – for the ‘Dieselgate’ scandal involving falsified emissions test results.
Harry and his fellow protesters came to see the Škoda partnership as an act of ‘greenwashing,’ contradicting the Peak District National Park Authority’s much touted efforts to encourage more visitors to leave their cars at home.
In 2024, Visit Peak District & Derbyshire received recognition for its successful “Take the Bus” campaign, promoting sustainable travel options in and around the park.
Persistent problems with overcrowded roads also saw double red lines introduced in recent months around Mam Tor and Castleton, while plans are also under way for a ‘Mini Switzerland’ scheme to improve connections between transport services.
Harry said: “At a time when we should be reducing our dependence on private car travel and restoring nature, promoting new private vehicles, even electric ones, within one of the UK’s most fragile landscapes sends entirely the wrong message.”
Alongside concerns over the environmental messaging, the advertising partnership has raised questions about the impact of funding cuts on the management of the national park – forcing authorities to seek injections of corporate cash, from potentially inappropriate sources, to prop up one of the nation’s most important public assets.
James Turnbull, owner of a Hathersage outdoors business, said: “The signage is both confusing for visitors and feels like the thin end of the wedge. If the name of the park can be bought, what else is available to the highest bidder? The Peak is our home, not a marketing campaign.”
National parks campaigner and co-founder of Save Our Rivers, Tom Laws added: “When national parks are prepared to sell their very name, then we're already on the path to industrial extraction of the most protected landscapes on our island.”
According to the Campaign for National Parks (CNP) – which was not affiliated to the Surprise View activists – Government funding for National Park Authorities was reduced by nine per cent in the 2026 financial year, contributing to an estimated 40 per cent real-terms reduction in funding since 2010.
Those reductions have seen significant workforce cuts at the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA), stripping back to its core services at a time when visitor numbers continue to reach record levels.
CNP has called on Angela Eagle, the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to double the core funding for national park authorities, restoring budgets to 2010 levels in real terms.
They argue funding increases would provide better targeted support for farmers and land managers, help scale up landscape scale nature recovery, protect internationally significant peatlands and facilitate a faster shift to sustainable transport solutions.
In response to questions from the Derbyshire Times, PDNPA chief executive Phil Mulligan said: “The value of the deal is commercially sensitive but I can say that it is a reasonable amount which greatly helps the authority to deliver important work, particularly around promoting active travel and looking to make our trails accessible to more people, partly through contributing to enhanced access works and partly through Škoda supporting the delivery of free cycle hire for all at our Parsley Hay cycle centre this week.
“Many people feel very strongly about the national park and that it is here for the nation, free to enjoy. Unfortunately, it is not free to deliver such public goods, they have to be paid for. With our government grant continuing to be cut in real terms every year and only covering about a quarter of our operating costs, we need income from a range of sources to continue to be able to deliver critical services for the nation.
“Such support comes through grant funding and charitable sources as well as our paid for services such as planning and carparks. Our trading income is also important from our National Park Centres and cycle hire centres and we also work in partnership with a number of water companies and corporates. The Skoda deal is very much aligned to our values around promoting active travel and lower carbon car travel (from electric vehicles).
“We have previously worked with other car companies, such as BMW on installing EV charging points in the national park. As part of the deal with Skoda there is a digital rebranding of the national park for one week only and as part of this six signs have been temporarily installed for a few days. These will be removed next week.
“The ‘renaming’ of the national park is designed to spark interest and conversation about what value the national park offers and to engage new audiences to help them discover the benefits of spending time in nature and being more active.
He added: “The national park actively supports and promotes public transport options for visitors and active travel around the national park once visitors are here.
“However we realise that many people will, for now, continue to drive to access the national park and the more such travel that is by electric vehicle the better. The partnership with Skoda is helping fund more active travel work and greater promotion of cycling around the national park.
"There are no other similar commercial partnerships under consideration. All such funding that the national park receives has to go through a due diligence process.”
In comments provided after this article was first published online, a spokesperson for Škoda said: “To celebrate the Peak District National Park’s 75th anniversary and the launch of our new all-electric Škoda Peaq, we’ve teamed up with the Peak District National Park Authority to help shine a light on the UK’s very first national park.
“This partnership is focussed on sparking positive conversations and encouraging more people to get out and enjoy the Peak District in a responsible way. Free cycle hire will also make it easier for visitors to explore the park more sustainably.
“It’s a temporary celebration of a truly special place, and it doesn’t change the name of the Peak District. Instead, it supports the National Park Authority’s goal of helping more people discover, enjoy, and connect with nature.”