Absolutely, and fair points too.Originally Posted by No map, no compass
Absolutely, and fair points too.
For anyone who is interested the first part of 'Tales from the National Parks' was aired last night on BBC4 and can be found on the iPlayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...Lake_District/
It concerns the planning process around the zip wire down to Honister ..
an enjoyable and thought provoking watch even if the end has a sobering part
I went to Honister for the first ever time this year. There's certainly nothing that looks out of place there, the landscape is scarred by the mining - in fact you can see a great deal more scarring in Snowdonia as you climb Snowdon and look across.
They are not proposing a motocross race site or a landfill, just a zip wire.
I went up there and stayed at Glaramara with some of my athletes. As part of the trip we went on the Via Ferretta and I assume this zip wire would be an extension of that.
I wouldn't be concerned about it, I can't see it affecting things visually, I can't see it bringing a significant amount of extra traffic.
My main concern would be for the H&S and upkeep of it - you wouldn't want to come off part way down would you?
The national park turned down the application anyway - said so on the link to the planning application given earlier. Grounds for rejection were the expected ones of too much visual etc impact for too little gain.
True but the programme did a good job in my view in explaining both sides of the story - too little gain for whom?
I'd have thought the major consideration there must be the amount of traffic it might lead to. The main road in is a narrow one, through relatively quiet villages and it can be quite tortuous even now when there are a few cars on the road.
It was an interesting programme, but it certainly didn't make Mark Weir look too good. His confrontation with the Friends of the Lake District pair on the side of the hill was cringeworthy and showed him in a bad light, as did some of his comments towards Natural England.
As with most similar situations, I suspect there's more going on "beneath the surface" (no pun intended) than we know in terms of local politics. He seemed to be someone who either inspired or wound up people and, in doing that, you can make some powerful enemies.
I watched it last night and found it interesting, thought-provoking and sad. I couldn't help feeling sorry for Mark and his family and their employess, not just over the zip wire aspect but also the hefty fine for installing the via ferrata. It was a double whammy that appeared to result from black and white idealism rather than shades of grey compromise. The effect of what he did amounts to zero compared to the effect of past industrial activities like mining and quarrying.
I thought this was a very interesting and moving documentary that gave a really good insight to the drive and motivation of Mark and his family and the opposition they faced.
Really the working mine is an eyesore and creates unpleasant industrial noise, but this is contained within a small area. I don't think the proposal would have made it any worse; a zip wire would barely impact on this already scarred and rugged part of the landscape. It would provide an experience of a healthy and empowering activity that for many would be remembered for life, a gift that would far outweigh the scar on the ground.
The damage to the flora and fauna is entirely contained by the physical nature of the via ferrata; a small impact given the scale of the site and a low price to pay when considering the huge gain to the users of the facility. The users of the via ferrata could have been educated about the rare plants, which would add to the experience of many. There were no facts or figures given of species numbers or locations to support the argument against, and it seemed that no proposals were considered as possible offsets for the damage.
Mark may have lacked the skills for dealing with the authorities in a professional manner, but his vision and motives appear to be genuinely for the good. There was an error on his application; at the time of submission he probably didn't realise the significance of the wording on the form. A tower below the summit would have a much reduced impact but the general public and many of those that objected may well have done so believing the summit would be the site. As I said before; what a shame.
Just my humble opinion; please don't throw rocks at me!
Impossible is nothing!
My blog
regarding the via ferrata and the SSSI I guess that English Nature have to maintain the "height of the bar". If they let this one go then presumably there is a risk that every SSSI is at greater risk, developers would wonder why they couldn't build over the next one and the next one.
I thought a really interesting aspect was the insight into Mark Weir's nature - He seemed to revel in the taking of risk.
To me a couple of the scenes showed him grandstanding his aittude. - the sounding out and the sheep rescue.
A couple of other scenes had him "sneering" at the film makers for not being risk takers.
His announcement that he only nearly killed himself 4 times in 2010.
Ultimately and sadly it caught up with him.
I found it ironic that he was championing activities that whilst providing thrills would constitute no exposure to risk; the via ferrata and zip would be safety checked and protected to prevent any risk.
Maybe he wasn't so much about risk as adrenaline.
It was interesting to see the support he had and the employment side of the equation.
I wonder what the equation is for the local economy - a zip would attract some people to the area bringing money and jobs to honister but equally put others off from visiting, losing money and jobs nearby.
My favourite scene was the couple on the shore in Keswick
Laconic northern male(husband): "49th wedding aniversary tommorrow. We always spend it in the Lakes"
Film maker " And you do something romantic ?"
Laconic northern female (wife) "Nooo.... Not really"
Last edited by andy k; 24-10-2011 at 03:46 PM.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote