I'm actually a little disappointed that the plan doesn't appear to be going ahead.
My wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed our summer walking holidays in the highlands and islands of Scotland for the last few years, but it's a long drive from Kent and we decided to go somewhere a bit closer next summer. We haven't had a walking holiday in the Lake District yet, so that was our intention.
We always book self-catering accommodation almost a year in advance so I began searching as soon as we got home last August. It was very frustrating because we couldn't find a single desirable cottage in the Lake District as a base to go walking from with minimal or no driving. This came as a surprise, because we've never had a problem with Scotland, the Peak District, Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons and other 'walking areas'. We still haven't booked anywhere yet, but the North York Moors look promising.
Houseboats might have suited us well, although I suspect these weren't really going to be houseboats in the normal sense of the word - more likely a term preferred by campaigners who might doubt the effectiveness of a slogan like "No boats on the lake!".
Oh well, never mind.