Revised zip wire attraction to go ahead
GEOGRAPH / IAN CAPPERRevised plans for a zip wire spanning more than half a mile (1km) in the Lake District National Park have been approved.
The attraction between Honister Crag and the Honister Slate Mine Visitor Centre was approved by the park authority in 2019, but plans were resubmitted due to a landing post being moved.
Honister Slate Mine is described as the oldest working slate mine in England and is the source of roof slate for both Kensington and Buckingham Palace.
Amendments to the zip wire plans include changes to the landing point for passengers, removing an intermediate post and updated technology braking systems.
The plans were approved unanimously by Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) members, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Committee members added conditions to the application, which stated the infrastructure should be removed if it is no longer required and that the zipwire could only be used between 08:00 and 18:30.
LDNPA member Jim Jackson told the committee that "to allow our businesses to sustain, grow and flourish we need to allow them to continue to evolve their businesses".
He did express concern the proposed attraction would impact on the "tranquillity" of the higher fells but said he was "conscious" there were other fells to find "peace and quiet".
Committee member Vicky Hughes believed it would have "significant impacts on the landscape, visually and audibly" with it "impacting ramblers and horse riders".
She added the only reasons she would support it were the fallback position of the previously approved application and how planning experts considered the revised application a "betterment".
GEOGRAPH / IAN CAPPERCommittee member Peter Walter said he agreed with the noise assessment, which said the impact would be "limited" and added he did not think people would "scream all the way down an 1,100m zipline".
According to planning documents, the maximum number of people using the zip wire in a day would be 57.
Visitors with restricted mobility, as well as children under the age of 10, could access the facility with a powered cable climbing trolley.
The plans have faced objections from Buttermere Parish Council and Friends of the Lake District.
Friends of the Lake District said despite some clarifications by the applicant, the proposal "nevertheless remains of concern primarily due to conflicts with the statutory purpose of National Parks" and local and national planning policy.