A petition has been launched to oppose the permanent closure of a rural road on the western shore of Thirlmere.
It has been set up by campaigner Mark Hatton, of Ambleside, following a consultation started by United Utilities and Cumberland Council seeking feedback on a move to prohibit all users from travelling along the U7003 because it is now considered dangerous.
The petition (https://chng.it/xYFsLP8H) has already garnered more than 1,500 signatures in just over 24 hours. More than another 1,000 names have been added since.
The road has been closed on an emergency basis since Storm Arwen hit in November 2021 causing trees, rocks and debris to litter the highway.
But now UU and the council are seeking a traffic regulation order (TRO) that will see the road, which has been closed on a temporary basis since the storm, shut permanently with not only vehicles but cycles and pedestrians unable to use it.
A letter has been sent out to local residents seeking feedback which said that extensive assessments have been undertaken by UU, in its responsibility as landowner. It says that the areas requiring assessment include the full face of Rough Crag and areas out of sight of the general public at the top and to the side of the crag.
“This included assessment of damage to trees, hazards of exposed and loose tree root plates and loose or fallen rock on the Rough Crag section,” says the letter. “Further assessments are scheduled to gather more information relating to the condition of the hazardous area.”
It adds that discussions are ongoing with United Utilities to establish whether technical and engineering measures can or cannot be put in place to secure the areas and allow the road to reopen.
“In the meantime, the hazards remain to all road users and therefore the prohibition of all traffic restriction (full road closure) at Rough Crag has to remain in place and be implemented on a permanent basis to continue the restriction in force,” says the letter.
A prohibition of motor vehicles restriction is also proposed along two other sections of the road between Dob Gill car park and Hawse Point, and between Hawse Point to Armboth car park. These sections will permit access for pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists where it is considered safe, while providing suitable points for motor vehicles to turn.
Mr Hatton, who has been campaigning to get the road reopened, said: “It appears to me that Cumberland Council (CC) have been irresponsible in accepting UU’s assessment that Rough Crag presents an unacceptable danger to users of the public highway.
“And it comes after 20 months of this closure during which precious little work has been done to assess or address the risks, CC now defaults to a permanent closure.
“The fact that nothing has fallen from Rough Crag in the past 20 months since one of the most extreme storm events to ever hit the Thirlmere area suggests that the closure to date has been an overreaction by a landowner intent on restricting public access and a council unwilling or unable to hold that landowner to account.
“The access for vehicles, cyclists and walkers is of strictly limited value if this is no longer a through route.
“As a through route walkers can enjoy a low level walk around Thirlmere and cyclists can travel north – south through the Lake District avoiding the treacherous stretch of the A591 along the east side of Thirlmere.
“If it is not a through route, cyclists, walkers and motorists are faced with a cul-de-sac to the north and to the south which severely impairs their enjoyment of the area and, in the case of cyclists, hugely increases the risk of road traffic accidents.”
