I think Leafe is trying to put the people who are fighting him on the back foot, by implying that they are, in some way, racist or ageist for trying to protect the park. When I wrote a brief report on here last year about the Friends of the Lake District rally, I pointed out that most of the people there were white and middle aged or older. However, this does not mean that these people are trying to maintain some sort of "club" as implied by Leafe, but rather these people may have more time to take on the challenge of fighting to maintain the park as a wild(ish) place, and, as Ninthace has pointed out, may have a longer historical tie to the park because of their cultural background.
I also think the park is becoming more ethnically diverse - there are many Chinese and Japanese visitors, who, in my experience tend to cluster where they are bussed in, ie Bowness, Grasmere etc, but also may people of Indian/Pakistani descent, many of whom I have met and chatted with on the fells. My own view is that Leafe is trying to obscure the deeply divisive and unpopular policies with regards to monetising the Lakes.
Whatever the reason, I love to walk the fells, and to look down on a lake such as Grasmere, catching the morning sun and reflecting the fells and trees around it, and for that reason I will be solidly against this application and any others, such as the gondola, which seeks to alter the character of the park.