Opinions stay divided as zip wire scheme is thrown out
Last updated at 21:20, Thursday, 15 September 2011
Plans by Borrowdale’s Honister Slate Mine for a zip wire from Fleetwith Pike to its visitor centre were rejected by the Lake District National Park Authority last week.
The argument for the zip wire by Sir Chris Bonington
The argument against the zip wire by Friends of the Lake District
The plan was intended to boost business, generate six extra full-time jobs and lure tourists with a high-adrenaline adventure experience.
But the 1,200m wire was objected to by organisations including Natural England, the Campaign for National Parks, Friends of the Lake District and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, and attracted 255 letters against.
There were 476 letters and an 11,500-strong petition in support of the scheme which would have been in memory of late mine owner Mark Weir, who died in a helicopter crash near the site in March.
Honister Slate Mine bosses say the decision may now force them to shut the business.
The Lake District authority’s development control committee voted nine to five against the plan after a three-hour Kendal meeting.
Opposite, mountaineer SIR CHRIS BONINGTON and RICHARD PEARSE, planning officer for Friends of the Lake District, give their differing opinions on the plans.
First published at 19:24, Thursday, 15 September 2011
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk
Are you suggesting that people visiting the zip wire would cause problems for those who already live/work in the Buttermere area? I donât think this would be a major problem as I would envisage most visitors would approach the zip wire from the Borrowdale end and I donât see the traffic being a big issue in any case. I am all for the zip wire and hope it eventually gets the go ahead.
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I am fed up of self appointed bodies deciding what is best fro everyone else. The agenda of the 'Friends' seems to be to preserve in aspic, a playground exclusively of their imagining. The Lake district, and honister in particular, has always been a dynamic and changing environment; and has certainly been the site of industry for hundreds (if not thousands) of years.
I am an avid fell walker and love the experience of walking in the beauty of our County. I have also enjoyed the Honister via ferata on numerous occasions and feel it has enhanced, not detracted from, my sense of awe at the landscape. The zip wire would be a fantastic experience.Furthermore, if the 'Friends' aim is to avoid congestion and noise in the Lake District, why aren't they lobbying to have all the tea rooms closed, the car parks fenced off and hotels shut down? It strikes me that there is a definite air of snobbery about the 'Friends', with such 'vulgar' pursuits as zip wires frowned on as too proletarian in nature.Posted by Evil McBad on 18 September 2011 at 13:38