Cumbrian mine owners to submit fresh zip wire plans despite past rejections

Bosses at a Cumbrian slate mine have said they will resurrect plans to expand their business with a mile-long zip wire later this year, despite the proposal being rejected twice by The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA).

The owners of Honister Slate Mine, which is the last working slate mine in England, have confirmed that they plan to submit a fresh application by the end of 2015, the BBC has reported.

Speaking to BBC Cumbria, the mine’s co-owner, Joe Weir, said: “It’s just adding to our product so we don’t go stale.

“We’ve got to keep going forward. Anything that doesn’t improve or go forward goes out of fashion.”

The proposal is for a zip wire between the slate mine and Fleetwith Pike. Those who oppose the plan believe the development could have a detrimental effect.

Douglas Chalmers, the director of local organisation Friends of the Lake District, said:

“Millions of people come to the Lake District and many of our businesses depend on those visitors.

“We’ve got to be very careful that for the sake of individual activities and places we don’t damage the wider national park that we know so many appreciate.”

An application was submitted in 2010 and again in 2013.

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