Alterations are to be made to a controversial zip wire at Honister Slate Mine to lessen its impact and reduce its visibility.
Work has already started on constructing the 1km long aerial flight way attraction which was given the go-ahead by the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) in 2018 despite objections from conservationists including the Friends of the Lake District
Gnash Baxter, the mine’s technical director and outdoor instructor, addressed last week’s meeting of Borrowdale Parish Council and outlined the changes that are to be made in a new planning application to be submitted to the LDNPA in December.
He said the original plan was for the zip wire to be broken into two; one long stretch then a transition point on to a shorter stretch.
The revised plan is that the zip wire will now come all the way down into the mine in one long run to the back of the workshop on the mine site. He said visual impact will be reduced because there will be no transition station.
The radio communications mast that has been approved will be to the rear of one of the anchor points of the zip wire down at the visitor centre.
A question was raised about the English Nature report on the first planning application in terms of noise impact that the proposed zip wire would create and if this has changed at all with this new application.
Mr Baxter confirmed that Honister will be submitting a new planning application to straighten the zip wire line and move the landing area.
He said that the revised line and new technology mean that those with limited accessibility can be taken up to the top of the zip wire, removing the need for the transition station while still allowing those with limited mobility to take part in the experience.
Speaking to the Reminder after the meeting, Mr Baxter said that “just a few tweaks” are being made to the approved application.
“Technology changes and we want to make it better and have less impact,” he said. “It’s the same as what has been passed with a change at the bottom in the landing area.
“It has not gone to planning yet. We were just making councillors aware that there are a few changes put in for planning.”
Although planning officers at Murley Moss had recommended the zip wire be refused in 2018, the LDNPA’s development control committee voted seven to three in favour of the scheme. Some members of the committee put forward the argument that the Honister area was already heavily developed, with a history of industry, and that visitors did not go there to seek out peace and tranquillity.
Permission had twice before been refused for the zip wire development at the mine in 2011 and 2012.
