People love the Lake District.

Millions come to visit it from all over the country and from all over the world. From next week, there’ll be even more of it to enjoy. On August 1, the Lake District National Park will grow by an extra 27 square miles – three per cent.

This will include an area from Birkbeck Fells Common to Whinfell Common to the east, and an area from Helsington Barrows to Sizergh Fell north of Sizergh Castle, and part of the Lyth valley to the south.

At the same time, the Yorkshire Dales National Park will be boosted by almost a quarter, taking in and extra 152 square miles of Cumbrian land. This includes the area around Crosby Garrett, Tebay, Ravenstonedale, Orton Crosby Ravensworth and Great Asby, though not Kirkby Stephen.

It means that in the east, the M6 will be the dividing line between the two National Parks.

Douglas Chalmers is delighted.

The executive director of Friends of the Lake District (FoLD) has pushed for the move. He says it will help protect some vital landscape.

Some of the best views for travellers on the M6 – the Tebay gorge and the Howgills – will now be part of a national park.

“That land will now be protected,” says Mr Chalmers. “We have been campaigning for many years to put that right. It has been unfinished business for us.

“As well as producing the ‘wow’ factor in people, that land is a valuable asset,”

“There is the valuable economic factor of 18-22 million people coming to the county every year. The vast majority of visitors come for the landscape. Because of the aesthetic benefits, that land is an economic asset to the county.”

The first national parks were created in 1951, when Cumbria was still the two separate counties of Cumberland and Westmorland and used the A6 road as the boundary, taking no account of the surrounding landscape.

FoLD published its “forgotten landscapes” report in 2005 to win national park status for the Westmorland Dales, including the Orton Fells and north Howgills.

In 2012 a legal order was issued, to include these Westmorland Dales in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and that becomes law on August 1.

Mr Chalmers also believes it will help those who live and work in the area to continue to do so. He says there’s more chance of getting funding if you are within a conservation area such as a national park.

Eden council is losing some area to the Yorkshire Dales park and council leader Kevin Beaty says landowners and householders will experience “marginal changes” under the new authority.

“I’m not sure being in the park will help raise funding, but planning regulations under the national parks will be tighter.

“I do know that it costs more in the Lake District for building work because the buildings have to fit in with the landscape and be dressed in local stone, rather than just left as concrete.”

South Lakeland District and Eden councils will transfer any undecided planning applications to the relevant national park authority on August 1,and the authorities will do likewise.

Another change could see a rise in the cost of properties that find themselves in one of the National Parks from Monday.

The CLA agrees. Dorothy Fairburn, north director of the Country Land and Business Association, is concerned that the changes could hinder rural growth.

“We have serious concerns about the impact of the reorganisation on the rural economy,” she says. “Development would be discouraged by the national parks. Planning will be more difficult.

“We have had long talks with the national parks and they are making positive noises about how they will work with farmers and landowners and they don’t foresee any drastic changes.

“But landowners in national parks can’t make as much use of their land as they can outside of them. You can’t convert a barn into a holiday cottage or into light industrial use to provide some local employment.

“We are optimistic at the positive things the park representatives have been saying.”

Richard Leafe, chief executive of the Lake District National Park, says: “We have been waiting 65 years for this.”

He says that the new-look National Park is more ‘landscape literate’ because it takes in Betherdale Common, Grayrigg Forest and Whinfell Common.

He played down fears of stricter governance by the national parks authorities, saying: “I think it is the perception that it will be more difficult getting planning permission in a national park. But I don’t think it is.

“I think it is a fear, but not the reality. In reality, there will be very few differences in the way we operate our planning policy.

“Far from being disadvantageous, I think people might find it in their interest to be part of the National Park. There is a great similarity in the open countryside policy we and district councils have.

“We have applied broadly the same policy over the years, otherwise you could argue that the land outside the National Park boundary is not worth including within it.

“I think the national park is a lot more finely tuned to the needs of the rural constituency than district councils who out of necessity have had to pay more attention to urban areas.”

One slight complication from Monday’s boundary move is that it will affect the LDNPA’s bid for world heritage status.

The organisation will have to issue an amendment to their bid. A decision on the application will be made next July in Krakow, Poland.

Ian Stephens, managing Director of Cumbria Tourism sees the extension of the two national parks as a bonus. He says: “The extension of the national park boundaries will strengthen both the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales brands with more stunningly beautiful landscapes being protected, and enhancing the areas already strong reputation with domestic and international visitors.”

Apart from the odd new sign here and there, it seems most people won’t realise any of the changes, whether they are visiting or living in the areas affected by the boundary changes.

But Mr Chalmers will be with other FoLD members celebrating the changes with a flask of coffee and a bacon butty atop Scout Scar, near Kendal.